Utes

LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Jamal Murray scored 37 points, Nikola Jokic added 24 points and eight assists, and the Denver Nuggets rolled to a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference finals with a 119-108 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half against his former team for the top-seeded Nuggets, who have never been this close to the NBA Finals in 47 years in the league.
Denver blew a big early lead in Game 3, but made a decisive 13-0 run in the fourth quarter to snap the Lakers&rsquo; nine-game home winning streak since March 26, including seven straight victories since the regular season ended.
No team has rallied from a 3-0 playoff series deficit in NBA history. Game 4 is Monday night in Los Angeles.
Anthony Davis had 28 points and 18 rebounds for the seventh-seeded Lakers, who hadn&rsquo;t lost three straight games since early February. Los Angeles&rsquo; prolonged, desperate surge ever since the trade deadline has finally run out of steam against the powerhouse Nuggets, who have won five consecutive playoff games.
LeBron James had 23 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds for Los Angeles, hitting three 3-pointers after starting the series 0 for 13 from distance. Austin Reaves added 23 points and seven rebounds, but Rui Hachimura was the only other Lakers scorer to crack double figures with 13 points.
Jokic&rsquo;s streak of four consecutive triple-doubles ended in a fairly quiet game for the two-time MVP. But Murray scored 17 points in a dynamic first quarter following his 23-point fourth quarter two nights ago, and he had 30 points by halftime of Game 3.
Bruce Brown scored 15 points and hit a key 3-pointer down the stretch for the Nuggets before Jokic all but iced it on a 3-pointer with 3:17 to play.
The Lakers&rsquo; passionate fans turned out in force for the 17-time champion franchise&rsquo;s first conference finals games at home since 2010, the year of their last title. Los Angeles tried desperately to get back in the series, with James playing 43 minutes after spraining his left ankle in Game 2 on top of his already sore right foot.
But the Nuggets&rsquo; flight to the coast didn&rsquo;t cool off Murray in the slightest: After lighting up the Lakers to close Game 2, the Canadian guard made his first five shots in Game 3 and poured in 17 points in the first quarter &mdash; even while Jokic went scoreless for the second straight quarter.
Murray&rsquo;s fourth 3-pointer of the night made him 11 of 13 from the field for 26 points midway through the second quarter, scoring more than half of Denver&rsquo;s points at an unbelievable pace. Reaves and Davis kept the Lakers in it, with Reaves racking up 15 points, three assists and three rebounds in the second quarter alone.
Hachimura&rsquo;s 3-pointer early in the fourth gave the Lakers their first lead since the opening minutes, but the Nuggets took charge again in a rally highlighted by Brown&rsquo;s 3-pointer with 7:02 to play, after which he taunted the Lakers&rsquo; bench with Los Angeles&rsquo; own &ldquo;Freeze&rdquo; 3-point celebration.
D&rsquo;Angelo Russell had another rough game for the Lakers, scoring three points on 1-of-8 shooting in 20 minutes. Russell was the Lakers&rsquo; biggest addition in their trade deadline transformation, but the point guard has just 21 points in this three-game series.
TIP-INS
Nuggets: Aaron Gordon had seven points in 32 minutes. ... Michael Porter Jr. had 14 points and 10 rebounds, capped by a 3-pointer in the final 90 seconds.
Lakers: Backup C Mo Bamba missed his ninth consecutive game with a sore left ankle. The team is hopeful Bamba can play at some point in this series. ... Fans near courtside included Jack Nicholson, Eddie Murphy, Denzel Washington, Jake Gyllenhaal, Andy Garcia, Dyan Cannon, Ken Jeong, Joel McHale, LA Kings captain Anze Kopitar and defenseman Drew Doughty, and Khalil Mack, Derwin James and Sebastian Joseph-Day from the Los Angeles Chargers&rsquo; defense.

The Denver Nuggets rolled to a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference finals with a 119-108 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday.

Nuggets on brink of NBA Finals with 119-108 win over Lakers in Game 3

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) &mdash; Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half and Tyger Campbell added 18 to lift No. 4 UCLA to a 78-71 win over Utah on Thursday night.
&ldquo;Jaime is a big-time player. He&rsquo;s an All-American and a guy that&rsquo;s going to play in the NBA for 10-12 years, so it&rsquo;s not a surprise,&rdquo; UCLA coach Mick Cronin said.
Jaquez, who was UCLA&rsquo;s only effective offensive player in the second half, made a 3-pointer with 1:03 remaining to seal the win just moments after Campbell made a 3 from the corner.
&ldquo;I prepare myself to be in these situations,&rdquo; Jaquez said. &ldquo;My guys have faith in me that I&rsquo;m going to make the right play every time down the stretch.&rdquo;
UCLA (24-4, 15-2 Pac-12) has won seven in a row despite giving up more than 70 points for just the fourth time this season.
&ldquo;The key is number one, taking care of the ball, and two, relying on your defense to get things done, not your offense,&rdquo; Campbell said.
Mike Saunders Jr. came off the bench to score a career-high 25 points for Utah (17-12, 10-8 Pac-12), which has lost three in a row.
&ldquo;Honestly, it felt amazing and it was crazy because I envisioned it,&rdquo; Saunders said. &ldquo;I was just waiting for an opportunity. I feel like my teammates believe in me.&rdquo;
The Utes played without their starting backcourt of Rollie Worster and Gabe Madsen, who are both injured. Utah finally started making 3-pointers in the second half and cut the Bruins lead to 62-59 after Wilguens Exacte and Saunders hit from beyond the arc.
But Jaquez came up with baskets when the Bruins needed them most.
&ldquo;The game was never in jeopardy,&rdquo; Cronin said, despite Utah&rsquo;s late runs. &ldquo;When you have Jaime and Tyger, it&rsquo;s easy to be confident.&rdquo;
Utah held the Bruins without a field goal for more than six minutes in the middle of the second half, highlighted by a couple of thunderous blocks from Branden Carlson and Keba Keita.
&ldquo;It was a heck of an effort. We&rsquo;re not into moral victories but really, really proud of the way they played today,&rdquo; Utah coach Craig Smith said.
Saunders, who only had three points in all of conference play coming into the game, brought a new element of speed to the Utes but made some mistakes characteristic of seldom-used players.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s going to learn. They were some things tonight he&rsquo;s got to do better, but he really sparked us on the offensive end,&rdquo; Smith said.
UCLA&rsquo;s 15-2 mark through 17 Pac-12 games marks the program&rsquo;s best conference start since the 2007-08 Final Four team with Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook.
Jaquez thinks this team can go even further.
&ldquo;National championship. That&rsquo;s what we got in mind,&rdquo; Jacquez said.
Tyger Campbell scored 10 of his points in the first half and helped manufacture open shots for his teammates while the Bruins held the Utes to 33 percent and 0-for-10 from 3-point range to take a 43-31 lead at halftime.
BIG PICTURE
UCLA: The Bruins took what the Utes gave them, so they consistently scored from the mid-range. Even with their scoring drought, the Bruins took care of the ball with only six turnovers, marking the 27th of 28 games this season they have less giveaways than their opponent.
Utah: The Utes made it difficult at times for the Bruins with a determined effort on the boards and a lot of hustle, but the Utes couldn&rsquo;t shoot. Without their guards, Saunders was a pleasant surprise, but it didn&rsquo;t matter because UCLA shot so well early and held Carlson in check.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
UCLA has been in the Top 10 for the last month and further upward mobility will probably depend on one of the top three losing this weekend.
UP NEXT
UCLA: At Colorado on Sunday.
Utah: Hosts Southern Cal on Saturday.

Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half and Tyger Campbell added 18 to lift the No. 4 Bruins to a 78-71 win.

Jaime Jaquez Jr. leads No. 4 UCLA to 78-71 win over Utah

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced the list of eligible candidates for the Class of 2023, including several high-profile, first-time nominees including Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Gregg Popovich, Dwyane Wade and the 1976 U.S. Olympic Women&rsquo;s Basketball Team. &nbsp; A first look at the list of eligible nominees was provided by &ldquo;NBA Today&rdquo; on ESPN; the complete list of eligible candidates can be found below. &nbsp; Finalists from the North American and Women&rsquo;s committee for the Class of 2023 will be announced on February 17, at 5:30 p.m. ET in Salt Lake City, Utah, during NBA All-Star Weekend. &nbsp; The entire Class of 2023, including those selected by the direct-elect committees, will be unveiled during the NCAA Final Four in Houston, Texas, on April 1, in a nationally televised broadcast at 11 a.m. EST.
NORTH AMERICAN NOMINATIONS &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ken Anderson (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; John Beilein (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gene Bess (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Chauncey Billups (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tom Chambers (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; John Clougherty (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Michael Cooper (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Joey Crawford (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack Curran (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Mark Eaton (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Cliff Ellis (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Michael Finley (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Pau Gasol (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Leonard Hamilton (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lou Henson (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ed Hightower (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; David Hixon (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Mark Jackson (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Marques Johnson (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gene Keady (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jim Larranaga (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Maurice Lucas (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Shawn Marion (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Rollie Massimino (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dick Motta (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dirk Nowitzki (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jake O&rsquo;Donnell (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tony Parker (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jim Phelan (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gregg Popovich (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bo Ryan (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Stan Spirou (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Reggie Theus (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dwyane Wade (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Buck Williams (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; John Williamson (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Paul Westhead (COA)
WOMEN&rsquo;S NOMINATIONS &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Leta Andrews (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jennifer Azzi (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gary Blair (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Doug Bruno (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Becky Hammon (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Becky Martin (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Debbie Miller-Palmore (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Kim Mulkey (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Valerie Still (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Marian Washington (COA) &nbsp; INTERNATIONAL DIRECT-ELECT &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jackie Chazalon &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Mirza Delibasic &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dusan Ivkovic &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Semen Khalipski &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Vladimir Kondrashin &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Eduardo Lamas &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Marcos Leite &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Shimon Mirrahi &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Amaury Pasos &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Manuel Sainz &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Togo Soares &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ranko Zeravica &nbsp; WOMEN&rsquo;S VETERANS DIRECT-ELECT &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1976 US Olympic Team (TEA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1982 Cheyney University NCAA Final Four Team (TEA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Alline Banks Sprouse (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Edmonton Commercial Grads (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; John Head (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Yolanda Laney (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Nashville Business College (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lometa Odom (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Harley Redin (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Hazel Walker (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Valerie Walker (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dean Weese (COA)*
CONTRIBUTOR DIRECT-ELECT &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Pete Babcock &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dick Baumgartner &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Henry Bibby &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Marty Blake &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Vic Bubas &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Doug Collins &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Wayne Duke &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bill Foster &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bob Gibbons &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Simon Gourdine &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tim Grgurich &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Junius Kellogg &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Johnny &ldquo;Red&rdquo; Kerr &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tom Konchalski &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bobby Lewis &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Fred McCall &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack McCloskey &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jon McGlocklin &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Speedy Morris &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dennis Murphy &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Curly Neal &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack Powers &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Will Robinson &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gene Shue &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jim Valvano &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Donnie Walsh &nbsp; VETERANS DIRECT-ELECT &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1936 US Olympic Team (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1972 US Olympic Team (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dick Barnett (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tom Blackburn (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Sid Borgia (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Charles Brown (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Freddie Brown (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack Coleman (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Charles Eckman (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Leroy Edwards (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Leo Ferris (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Hy Gotkin (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Travis Grant (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack Hartman (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Cam Henderson (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Robert Hopkins (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Charles Keinath (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Greg Kelser (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Kentucky Wesleyan 1966, 1968, 1969 (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bob Love (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Loyola of Chicago (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Billy Markward (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ed McCluskey (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack McKinney (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bill Melchionni (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Francis Meehan (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lucias Mitchell (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Donald &ldquo;Dudey&rdquo; Moore (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Joe Mullaney (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Willie Naulls (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; North Catholic High School Junior Varsity (Philadelphia, PA) (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Don Otten (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Philadelphia SPHAS (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Kevin Porter (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Glenn Roberts (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lennie Rosenbluth (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Kenny Sailors (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Fred Schaus (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Sam Schulman (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Paul Silas (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dick Van Arsdale (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tom Van Arsdale (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lambert Will (CONT)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Max Zaslofsky (PLA)

Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Gregg Popovich and Dwyane Wade are among the candidates for the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Basketball Hall of Fame announces candidates for Class of 2023

Is the NBA ready to add an expansion team? Evan Sidery explores what kind of team you could build in a present-day expansion draft.

NBA Expansion Mock Draft: What would a new expansion team look like?

Bookmark this page and we'll keep you up-to-date on every NBA rumor. We'll continue updating this tracker over the next 24 hours.

NBA Rumor Tracker: Compiling the latest news and intel

It&rsquo;s Christmas in late June for NBA fans.
The 2022 NBA Draft is hours away, and the rumor mill is churning. BasketballNews has compiled every major rumor to keep you up-to-date on the latest rumblings around the Association.
If you missed yesterday's NBA Rumors Notebook with updates on Malcolm Brogdon, John Collins, Gordon Hayward and more, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-trade-rumors-draft-2022-news-reports-atlanta-hawks-malcolm-brogdon-new-york-knicks-deal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">check that out here</a>.
Without further ado, let&rsquo;s jump into the juicy intel.
Kevin Durant will request trade if Kyrie Irving leaves Nets
On Wednesday, ESPN&rsquo;s Adrian Wojnarowski dropped this blockbuster nugget in his <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/insider/story/_/id/34130810/how-kyrie-irving-contract-talks-change-kevin-durant-long-term-commitment-brooklyn-nets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ESPN+ story</a> detailing the the uncertainty surrounding the Nets and Kyrie Irving. Woj said that the star point guard has a huge leverage play in negotiations: Irving knows that if the Nets refuse to sign him to a long-term extension, Kevin Durant will soon follow him out the door in Brooklyn. Wojnarowski said the Nets are aware of this situation, so their front office is trying to walk this tightrope.
Longtime NBA insider Marc Stein <a href="https://marcstein.substack.com/p/kyrie-irving-latest-more-trade-talk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">added on Substack</a> that he&rsquo;s heard Irving and LeBron James have been in contact recently, potentially about reuniting on the Los Angeles Lakers. Wojnarowski relayed on NBA Today that the Lakers are considered "the biggest threat" to acquire Irving outside of Brooklyn too. Also, Stein said don&rsquo;t rule out the Miami Heat as a possible suitor via sign-and-trade.
The Irving drama has already created a negative impact on the Nets&rsquo; free-agency plans. Wojnarowski said on NBA Today that Brooklyn is having a hard time retaining their own free agents, plus Durant isn&rsquo;t recruiting potential names to the Nets as well.&nbsp;
"In previous offseasons, rival agents and players would tell you of Durant's eagerness in talking to potential free agents. So far, that hasn't been the case with him, sources say," Wojnarowski <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/34130810/how-kyrie-irving-contract-talks-change-kevin-durant-long-term-commitment-brooklyn-nets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote on ESPN+</a>.
Durant has also been putting pressure on the Nets to sign Irving long-term, per Wojnarowski.
All of a sudden, the possibility of the Nets breaking up feels very real. Could we actually be looking at a scenario where Durant is requesting a trade over the next few weeks? If Irving's contract situation isn&rsquo;t resolved soon, it sure feels like it.
OG Anunoby joining Jerami Grant in Portland?
According to <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisBHaynes/status/1539759808907284480" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yahoo Sports&rsquo; Chris Haynes</a>, the Portland Trail Blazers aren&rsquo;t done trying to make massive moves to improve their roster. After acquiring Jerami Grant for a bargain price on Wednesday, Haynes relayed that Portland is offering the Toronto Raptors the No. 7 overall pick in today's NBA Draft in exchange for versatile wing OG Anunoby.
There has been persistent smoke surrounding Anunoby in trade talks over the last few weeks, and now things have kicked into overdrive.
If the Blazers are able to land Anunoby alongside Grant, it&rsquo;s a dream wing pairing to place alongside the high-usage backcourt of Damian Lillard and Anfernee Simons. Assuming Portland also re-signs Jusuf Nurkic, they could become a playoff contender once again.
Deandre Ayton, Suns heading for a split?
Deandre Ayton may have played his final game with the Phoenix Suns. Even though things seemed to be heading in this direction after the Suns' shocking postseason exit, Wojnarowski confirmed Wednesday on NBA Today that the organization doesn&rsquo;t view&nbsp; their former No. 1 overall pick as a max-level player. Woj added that Phoenix plans to engage in serious sign-and-trade discussions surrounding Ayton.
Keep an eye on the Detroit Pistons as a potential landing spot for Ayton, especially after the Grant trade went down. The Pistons now have more than $40 million in cap space, which means they can offer Ayton a max contract without any hiccups. According to <a href="https://theathletic.com/3379072/2022/06/22/jerami-grant-blazers-pistons-deandre-ayton/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Athletic&rsquo;s James Edwards III</a>, Detroit is &ldquo;heavily expected&rdquo; to pursue Ayton.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Will James Harden opt in?
Wojnarowski mentioned on NBA Today that James Harden was likely to exercise his $47 million player option for next season and sign a short-term extension with the Philadelphia 76ers. Harden&rsquo;s new deal with Philadelphia will come in at a figure slightly below the max, as Woj relayed on ESPN2. This lines up with <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10038916-latest-nba-intel-sources-say-james-harden-will-sign-short-term-extension-with-sixers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a recent report</a> from Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report.
Philadelphia has <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-trade-rumors-draft-2022-news-reports-atlanta-hawks-malcolm-brogdon-new-york-knicks-deal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">already been linked to Eric Gordon and PJ Tucker</a> this offseason, so we'll see if the 2018 Houston Rockets are planning a reunion. Would adding Gordon and Tucker be enough to put Philadelphia over the top in the Eastern Conference?
The Sixers are also shopping the No. 23 overall pick, Matisse Thybulle and Danny Green, per <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10038916-latest-nba-intel-sources-say-james-harden-will-sign-short-term-extension-with-sixers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fischer</a>.&nbsp;
Thunder planning blockbuster trade to move up draft?
<a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/insider/story/_/id/34121058/2022-nba-mock-draft-projecting-all-58-picks-based-latest-intel-scouting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According to ESPN&rsquo;s Jonathan Givony</a>, the Oklahoma City Thunder are aggressively trying to trade up from No. 12, with their primary targets being Purdue&rsquo;s Jaden Ivey and Kentucky&rsquo;s Shaedon Sharpe.
The Thunder are hoping to come out of this draft with two of the top prospects; OKC also has the No. 2 and signs seem to point to them taking Chet Holmgren.&nbsp;
Could you imagine Oklahoma City trotting out a core that features Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Holmgren and either Ivey or Sharpe? That&rsquo;s simply unfair.
Hawks pursuing Dejounte Murray trade?
<a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10039635-latest-nba-offseason-rumors-san-antonio-spurs-discussing-dejounte-murray-trades" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According to Bleacher Report&rsquo;s Jake Fischer</a>, the San Antonio Spurs and Atlanta Hawks have discussed a deal that would involve swapping Dejounte Murray and John Collins. Fischer noted that the price for Murray to leave San Antonio would be &ldquo;Jrue Holiday-like&rdquo; in terms of the return. If that&rsquo;s the case, the Spurs would likely have to part with multiple first-round picks to land the versatile guard.
The Athletic's Chris Kirschner joined BasketballNews' Twitter Spaces last night and confirmed that these talks are ongoing, but added that a deal isn't close. He has also heard that the asking price for Murray is significant.
With this coming out of nowhere, it wouldn&rsquo;t be a surprise to see the Spurs be a very aggressive team during tonight's NBA Draft.
Knicks all-in on Jalen Brunson?
Stein <a href="https://marcstein.substack.com/p/kyrie-irving-latest-more-trade-talk?sd=pf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> on Wednesday that the New York Knicks are viewed as a real threat to sign Jalen Brunson, if they can clear the necessary cap space. The Knicks are trying to offload the expiring contracts (if you count their 2023-24 team option) of Alec Burks, Kemba Walker and Nerlens Noel. Wojnarowski added later in the day on ESPN2 that New York will be aggressive in clearing said space.
Stein dropped another Knicks-related note involving underrated rim protector Mitchell Robinson. <a href="https://marcstein.substack.com/p/nba-draft-forecast-trades-aplenty?sd=pf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According to Stein</a>, the Knicks are expected to re-sign Robinson, which may close the door on potential draft options like Memphis&rsquo; Jalen Duren or Duke&rsquo;s Mark Williams at No. 11 overall.
Yesterday, ESPN&rsquo;s Brian Windhorst mentioned on NBA Today that New York has been unwilling to include No. 11 in any trade talks involving Pacers point guard Malcolm Brogdon. The availability of Brogdon continues to be a hot topic, which included <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10038623-latest-nba-intel-sources-expect-zach-lavine-to-re-sign-with-chicago-bulls" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fischer reporting</a> that league executives believe Brogdon is the Knicks' backup option after Brunson.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Pacers accepting rebuild?
On ESPN's NBA Mock Draft Special on Tuesday, Wojnarowksi said that the Pacers plan to reshape their roster and move toward a rebuild under head coach Rick Carlisle. Woj added that Indiana is hopeful to add a second lottery selection since there are multiple prospects they like in that range.
The full expectation is that Brogdon will be moved soon. However, when it comes to Myles Turner's future, the Pacers may wait for better offers or hold onto him long-term. Both Brogdon and Turner have constantly popped up in trade rumors, and that likely isn't changing until there's a resolution.
Indiana deciding on a full-scale rebuild opens up a lot of roster possibilities, and it further suggests that Brogdon, Turner and maybe even Buddy Hield could be on the move. Leading up to the draft, Indiana continues to be one of the most active teams on the trade market.
<a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10039635-latest-nba-offseason-rumors-san-antonio-spurs-discussing-dejounte-murray-trades" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fischer mentioned on Wednesday</a> that the following teams have shown interest in a Turner trade: the Toronto Raptors, Minnesota Timberwolves and Charlotte Hornets.
D&rsquo;Angelo Russell staying in Minnesota?
Speaking of the Timberwolves, another interesting tidbit was shared on Wednesday morning by <a href="https://theathletic.com/3363956/2022/06/22/dangelo-russell-future-timberwolves/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Athletic&rsquo;s Jon Krawczynski</a>: Minnesota has not come close on any potential trades involving D&rsquo;Angelo Russell or any other players. Russell is on the final year of his contract, but his season ended with some fourth-quarter benchings in favor of Jordan McLaughlin during the playoffs.
Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly <a href="https://twitter.com/JonKrawczynski/status/1539694720108085248" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told reporters</a> on Wednesday that the organization is &ldquo;super open&rdquo; to trading the No. 19 pick. Connelly added that they would welcome a win-now piece in exchange for the top-20 selection.
Cavs open to trading back?
According to <a href="https://www.cleveland.com/cavs/2022/06/cleveland-cavaliers-getting-trade-offers-for-the-no-14-pick-in-2022-nba-draft-sources-say.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com</a>, the Cleveland Cavaliers are open to trading back from No. 14 overall. This lines up with what <a href="https://hoopshype.com/lists/nba-rumors-bradley-beal-bobby-portis-nicolas-batum-lakers-nets/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HoopsHype's Michael Scotto reported</a> earlier this week. Scotto added that the Minnesota Timberwolves, Memphis Grizzlies and Milwaukee Bucks have called about the No. 14 pick.
Holding the final pick in the lottery, Cleveland could fetch a solid return on the trade market. The Cavs are reportedly hoping for a future first-round pick, but they&rsquo;re open to adding a win-now role player in a trade-back scenario as well.&nbsp;
If the Cavaliers are able to move back while also improving the top of their rotation, it would be a huge win for the up-and-coming team.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Suns shopping Jae Crowder?
<a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10039635-latest-nba-offseason-rumors-san-antonio-spurs-discussing-dejounte-murray-trades" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According to Fischer</a>, the Suns have reached out to rival teams to gauge Jae Crowder's trade value. Over the last two seasons, Crowder has played a pivotal role in the Suns&rsquo; historic turnaround. However, with a looming extension for Cameron Johnson, it could make sense to clear more playing time for he and Mikal Bridges on the wing.
Phoenix has no picks tonight, but they are rumored to be interested in getting into the draft. While they have looked into buying a second-round selection, perhaps trading Crowder could get them into the first round.
If the Suns send Crowder to Philadelphia for the No. 23 pick and Danny Green&rsquo;s non-guaranteed salary, would that make sense for both sides?
Wizards listening on Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
<a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10039635-latest-nba-offseason-rumors-san-antonio-spurs-discussing-dejounte-murray-trades" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According to Fischer</a>, the Wizards are open to discussing Kuzma and KCP in deals. Earlier in the week, Wojnarowski listed Washington as one of the most active teams in trade discussions.
After a strong season with the Wizards, Kuzma could provide a strong return. KCP&rsquo;s expiring contract would be a strong match with Indiana for Malcolm Brogdon, which has been rumored for several days.
Blazers, Pelicans draft preferences
Closing out the notebook, here are two draft-related notes. First up, if the Portland Trail Blazers stay put at No. 7, they are reportedly fans of Dyson Daniels and Shaedon Sharpe, per <a href="https://theathletic.com/3377254/2022/06/22/nba-mock-draft-trades-rumors-news/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Athletic&rsquo;s John Hollinger</a>. Both Daniels or Sharpe could be real complements on the wing alongside Lillard, Grant and Simons. If Portland nails their lottery pick, they are set up to potentially rebound in 2022-23.
The New Orleans Pelicans&rsquo; top choices at No. 8 are Daniels and Arizona&rsquo;s Bennedict Mathurin, per <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/please-dont-aggregate-this/id1618992995" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fischer on his podcast</a>. If neither Daniels nor Mathurin are on the board, New Orleans would be more inclined to listen on potential trade-back scenarios.
Buckle up, folks, as this is going to be a crazy day! BasketballNews will keep you updated on all the latest NBA news and rumors.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com. <a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!

The 2022 NBA Draft is hours away, and the rumor mill is churning. Here are all of the latest rumblings from around the Association.

NBA Rumors Notebook: Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Deandre Ayton, more

WASHINGTON (AP) &mdash; Obi Toppin scored a career-high 35 points, and the New York Knicks beat the Washington Wizards 114-92 on Friday night.
RJ Barrett scored 14 points for the Knicks before leaving the game with a sprained right knee. His early exit came on a night when a number of key players from both teams didn't play at all. Both teams are eliminated from playoff contention. New York (36-45) moved a game ahead of Washington (35-46) for 11th place in the Eastern Conference.
The Knicks allowed the game's first 10 points and shot just 2 of 9 from 3-point range in the first quarter, but they dominated after that. New York was 14 of 30 from long distance the rest of the way.
The Knicks took control when they outscored Washington 36-19 in the second quarter to lead 59-50 at halftime.
New York scored the final six points of the first half on a dunk and then a four-point play by Toppin. Then the Knicks scored the first 13 of the third quarter. Toppin capped the run with two more 3-pointers to make it 72-50.
Rui Hachimura led the Wizards with 21 points. Immanuel Quickley had 23 points and 10 assists for New York.
DID NOT PLAY
The Wizards have been without Bradley Beal (left wrist) for more than two months, and Kyle Kuzma (right knee) was out for a 12th straight game. Kristaps Porzingis (right knee) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (rest) did not play either.
Coach Wes Unseld Jr. said Kuzma, Porzingis and Caldwell-Pope will also miss the team's finale at Charlotte.
New York was without Julius Randle (right quadriceps tendon) for a fourth straight game. The Knicks have also been without Nerlens Noel (left foot), Cam Reddish (right shoulder), Derrick Rose (right ankle) and Kemba Walker. Quentin Grimes (right knee) and Mitchell Robinson (non-COVID illness) each missed a second straight game.
TIP-INS
Knicks: Toppin's previous career high was 20 points.
Wizards: Washington was blown out despite shooting 51% from the field. The Wizards had 22 turnovers, which led to 33 New York points.
UP NEXT
Knicks: Host Toronto on Sunday night.
Wizards: At Charlotte on Sunday.

Obi Toppin poured in a career-high 35 points in Friday's win over the Washington Wizards.

Toppin scores 35, Knicks rout Wizards 114-92

Five years ago, around this time, Brooklyn Nets fans were arguing over Yogi Ferrell and Spencer Dinwiddie with hostility.
Seriously, go back and look. You would&rsquo;ve had no idea unless you were covering the Nets, but it was a divisive time in Brooklyn&rsquo;s era. (Even if it didn&rsquo;t rise to the publicity of, say, Kyrie Irving&rsquo;s vaccination status.)
Almost to this exact date in 2017, Ferrell memorably had what is still the best game of his NBA career, dropping 32 points in a nationally-televised game between his Dallas Mavericks and Damian Lillard&rsquo;s Portland Trail Blazers while on a 10-day contract. That same day, Dinwiddie netted 13 (which tied for his second-highest output of the season), and it would be the last time he broke double figures for 10 more days.
The debate grew hilariously one-sided the following season, and Dinwiddie became a fringe All-Star candidate in both the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons. But the reason no one saw this coming initially is because Dinwiddie came up as a pass-first, low-turnover, traditional point guard &mdash; somebody who at one time went <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/d/dinwisp01/gamelog/2017">five games (134 minutes)</a> without committing a turnover and took eight shot attempts per 36 minutes; that figure leapt to 13.1, 15.6, and 18.4 the next three seasons.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Dinwiddie&rsquo;s game has seen multiple iterations.
The score-first, old-school point guard from 2016-17.
The inefficient, yet ultra-timely scorer who still rarely turned the ball over as a floor general in 2017-18.
The near All-Star who became a full-fledged, scoring point as a sixth man in 2018-19.
The even-nearer All-Star combo guard who averaged around 20.0 points and 7.0 assists and got to the free-throw line at will in 2019-20.
But last year, he tore his ACL for the second time in his basketball-playing life, and is still working his way back while in Washington.
The Wizards <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/washington/wizards/wizards-focusing-chemistry-after-bradley-beal-speech-and-players-only-meeting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">had a players&rsquo; only meeting before the regular season began</a>. Since a 10-4 start, the team's gone 13-22. Even worse, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Montrezl Harrell <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/washington-wizards-kentavious-caldwell-pope-montrezl-harrell-separated-after-fight-at-halftime-oklahoma-city-thunder-052704731.html#:~:text=At%20halftime%20of%20their%20122,to%20The%20Athletic's%20Shams%20Charania.&amp;text=Caldwell%2DPope%20banked%20in%20a,to%20its%20second%2Dstraight%20win">tried putting on a WBC Heavyweight Title bout in the Wizards locker room</a> a few weeks ago.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UUhBioGkI6E" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Dinwiddie, who turns 29 in April, claims that the topic of leadership <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/dinwiddie-says-his-leadership-wasnt-necessarily-welcomed-by-wizards" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wasn&rsquo;t welcomed when he brought it up earlier this season</a>. (<a href="https://www.netsdaily.com/2017/3/21/15009886/the-dude-is-different-dinwiddie-on-sports-social-media-and-the-8-billion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">He's never been shy.</a>) And now, <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nba/2022/1/31/22910354/los-angeles-clippers-nba-trade-deadline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kevin O&rsquo;Connor of The Ringer is reporting</a> that the Wizards don&rsquo;t even want Dinwiddie there:
<blockquote>
&ldquo;The Wizards want to move Dinwiddie because he looks like a shell of his former self and his teammates don&rsquo;t want him there. Schr&ouml;der is fine, but he leans too far toward scoring and would be an awkward fit next to Jackson.&rdquo;
</blockquote>
To be fair, this entire Wizards team looks like a shell of their 10-4 selves from this past November, but anyway...
Dinwiddie, who is averaging 13.0 points, 5.8 assists and 4.6 rebounds on .383/.314/.807 shooting splits is in the first season of a three-year, $54 million deal signed this past summer. After earning $17.1 million this campaign, he&rsquo;ll rake in $18 million in 2022-2023; he has $10 million of $18.9 million guaranteed for the season after. And since the Wizards evidently want to trade him, let&rsquo;s help &lsquo;em out.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Cavaliers receive: Spencer Dinwiddie, 2026 or 2028 first-round pick 
Wizards receive: Ricky Rubio 
This trade is quite simple on paper, and it starts with Ricky Rubio&rsquo;s $17.8 million expiring contract heading to Washington in exchange for Dinwiddie. Rubio has a torn ACL and is expected to return at some point, just not this season. It feels like someone should send the other a draft pick or two here, but you could make the case going either way.&nbsp;
For the Cavs, they&rsquo;d be sending over Rubio while inheriting Dinwiddie&rsquo;s sizable contract as a result, so they should probably ask for some draft compensation as a result &mdash; and would be right to do so. In the Wizards' case, they&rsquo;d be trading Dinwiddie for someone who may never suit up for them and may want compensation for that reality alone.
To me, Cleveland should get the draft compensation since this deal could impact how it maneuvers this summer &mdash; including Collin Sexton&rsquo;s future, which still needs addressing. The good thing is the pathway to doing that would remain, and Dinwiddie could play the Rubio role this season.
Rubio averaged 13.1 points and 6.6 assists in 28.5 minutes per contest in all but eight games off the bench, while posting .363/.339/.854 shooting splits. He was as impactful as he possibly could&rsquo;ve been given the poor shooting, if you simply watched. Dinwiddie&rsquo;s numbers, as outlined earlier, are strikingly similar, and coming off the bench for a good team might be more ideal for him than starting for an aimless one. And the reason the Wizards' pick is so far into the future is because <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/nba-trade-deadline-2022-how-complex-stepien-rule-decides-which-teams-can-and-cant-deal-first-round-picks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Stepien Rule prevents them from moving anything sooner</a>. (It makes this more difficult.)
Boston Celtics
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_17062188_lg.jpg" alt="" width="651" height="434" />
Celtics receive: Spencer Dinwiddie, 2026 or 2028 first-round pick&nbsp; 
Wizards receive: Dennis Schr&ouml;der, Josh Richardson 
As<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/reshaping-the-celtics-for-a-playoff-push-part-1-the-backcourt" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Justin Lewis noted last week in our Celtics two-part retooling series</a>, these dudes need an actual point guard. The version Dinwiddie seems to play now is a less-effective version of the 2018-19 combo guard he became, but again, let&rsquo;s consider the environment. The Celtics are probably looking for a bigger trade deadline splash, but if pure-point Dinwiddie were to arrive in Boston, that&rsquo;s a better fit next to Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown than Dennis Schr&ouml;der is.
Because Dinwiddie's deal runs longer than Richardson's or Schr&ouml;der's, you're attaching a first here, Washington, at a minimum. Maybe add a second-rounder that would come sooner.&nbsp;
A big part of why Dinwiddie&rsquo;s been less effective isn&rsquo;t only his shooting splits, but his free-throw rate is the lowest of his career at .240, and he&rsquo;s only averaging 3.9 attempts from the line per 36 minutes, the lowest figure since his rookie season in 2014-15. That free-throw rate needs to elevate in Boston, and playing next to the Jays should provide those open lanes for spaced threes and clear drives to create more of that rim pressure we haven&rsquo;t seen much of in Washington.&nbsp;
Philadelphia 76ers
76ers receive: Bradley Beal, Spencer Dinwiddie, Davis Bertāns, 2026 first-round pick, 2028 first-round pick 
Wizards receive: Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris 
This looks ugly as hell, and is probably not very likely, but it could actually work.&nbsp;
For Washington, you get rid of two unfavorable contracts; Bertāns especially. You also acquire Simmons, who is beginning his max extension (has he even gotten paid from it yet since he hasn't played?) that'll run through 2025. Beal, as we know, has a player option for next summer, but is more likely to sign an extension this summer that will take him well into his 30s. The Wizards <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/washington/wizards/wizards-trade-deadline-notes-bradley-beal-domantas-sabonis-jerami-grant" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly still don't want to trade Beal</a>, but what's honestly the upside in keeping him now? To be Portland East? Regarding Tobias Harris, the Wizards may (and probably should) try rerouting him under this scenario. Harris will see over $38 million next season, and over $40 million in 2023-24.&nbsp;
For Philly, it finally rids the organization of the Simmons experience, which it'll probably they need to do to have any chance of competing this year. It also gets rid of Harris, but at a price. At least, Dinwiddie gives the Sixers a real point guard option to mix in, who can even play with Tyrese Maxey and has one fully guaranteed year left. Bertāns is getting between $16 and $17 million each year through the 2024-25 season, though that's partially guaranteed. Functionally, he can be a 4 next to Embiid, which may even help given the way Embiid is passing this season. The first-round picks are the reward for taking back bad contracts, and, of course, getiting Beal.&nbsp;
I'm still not positive it's a deal either of these teams want, but sometimes, we don't know what's best for us anyhow.&nbsp;
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com. <a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!

Bryan Fonseca takes a look at three logical landing spots for Wizards point guard Spencer Dinwiddie.

Examining potential trade destinations for Spencer Dinwiddie

If there&rsquo;s one thing we can say about the son of Dell Curry, it&rsquo;s that he surely can shoot a basketball. Finally, it appears that he&rsquo;s found a home &mdash; in Philadelphia.
That&rsquo;s right, we&rsquo;re talking about Seth Curry, who enters play on Oct. 31 as the NBA&rsquo;s league leader in three-point percentage. Certainly not the first-ballot Hall-of-Famer as his older brother Steph, the younger Curry has done his part to help redefine the concept of the &ldquo;Splash Brothers.&rdquo;
Obviously, it&rsquo;s early, and Seth continuing to shoot 63% from distance isn&rsquo;t a trend that&rsquo;s likely to hold up across the entire season, but that certainly doesn&rsquo;t make it any less noteworthy, much in the same way that some other early-season trends have captured our attention.
Entering play on Oct. 31, the gross majority of the NBA&rsquo;s teams have played five or six games, and at this point, it&rsquo;s fair to say we have a sample size.&nbsp;
With that, it&rsquo;s worth checking out our five biggest early season surprises.
Charlotte may have a star not named &lsquo;LaMelo&rsquo;
Miles Bridges has already gotten a fair amount of praise for his strong start to the season, but the Charlotte Hornets have come under newfound scrutiny after ESPN&rsquo;s Brian Windhorst reported that Bridges was &ldquo;only&rdquo; offered a four-year, $60 million rookie extension from his team. As a result, Bridges is preparing for restricted free agency this summer, and it&rsquo;s safe to say he&rsquo;s motivated to earn a big payday.
Aside from helping to lead Charlotte to a 4-2 record in its first six games, Bridges has put up some eye-popping numbers: 25.5 points, eight rebounds and 1.8 steals per game. More importantly, he&rsquo;s shown a better-than-advertised ability to play with the ball in his hands, which is a net-positive that will allow LaMelo Ball some opportunity to operate off of it.
Many looked at the four-year, $90 million extension that Mikal Bridges received from the Phoenix Suns as the kind of payday that Charlotte&rsquo;s Bridges (no relation, by the way) could be eyeing this summer. But if he continues to play anywhere near as well as he has over the first two weeks for the season, he may very well be headed for a lot more.
New York&rsquo;s best team is&hellip; the Knicks?
The Knicks were pretty good last season, but many around the league considered them to be a bit of a shooting star. With the strong additions made by the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards, a healthy Miami Heat team had some believing that the Knicks would be contending to avoid a spot in the play-in tournament more than home court advantage. Yet after the first two weeks of the season, their 5-1 record puts them in a four-way tie for first place in the Eastern Conference. With Saturday&rsquo;s win over the New Orleans Pelicans, the Knicks are 3-0 on the road. They boast fairly impressive wins over the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and the Bulls, as well.
Perhaps they will cool down as the season continues, but the Knicks enter play on Oct. 31 making a league-leading 16.7 three-pointers per game. They are scoring 117 points per game, which makes them second (to the Charlotte Hornets, believe it or not, who are scoring 117.5).
Check out Kemba Walker&rsquo;s game log and RJ Barrett&rsquo;s line from Saturday night and you&rsquo;ll see that there&rsquo;s plenty for Tom Thibodeau to be pleased about.
Kyrie isn&rsquo;t the only player missing in Brooklyn
The Brooklyn Nets would probably like nothing more than to get everyone to stop thinking about what they&rsquo;d look like with Kyrie Irving on the floor, but the team&rsquo;s relatively slow start hasn&rsquo;t helped that cause. Neither has James Harden.
Designated the conference favorite by virtually every sports book, without Irving in the lineup, Brooklyn entered the season hoping that both Kevin Durant and Harden could channel their superpowers and resemble the players they were when they each won MVP in 2014 and 2018, respectively. Durant has held up his end of the bargain, while the same can&rsquo;t necessarily be said of his partner in crime.
Entering play on Oct. 31, the Nets are just 3-3 and Harden himself has been fairly pedestrian.&nbsp;
Admittedly still working his way back into shape after suffering a Grade 2 hamstring sprain during last season&rsquo;s playoffs, through the first six games of the season, he&rsquo;s averaging 18.7 points on 37.1% shooting from the field &mdash; his lowest output since he wore an Oklahoma City Thunder uniform.&nbsp;
The good news is that Harden turned in his strongest effort of the season on Friday night when the Nets secured a much-needed victory over the Indiana Pacers. He got to the line 19 times and scored a season-high 29 points. The Nets obviously hope that starts a new trend.
In the NBA, it&rsquo;s less about how you start and more about how you finish. But in the early going at least &mdash; save for one game &mdash; Harden&rsquo;s 2021-22 campaign has been uninspiring.&nbsp;
Without Irving, head coach Steve Nash will be hoping for increased productivity from his cast of role players, as well as Harden and Durant. They&rsquo;ve fallen short. Brooklyn ranks 20th in the league in team field goal percentage (43.4%) and are only scoring 102.5 points per game &mdash; 25th in the league.
At this point, the saving grace for Brooklyn has been allowing opponents to shoot just 42.2% from the field, which ranks fourth in the league. Still, they rank 20th in offensive rebounds allowed and 26th in total rebounds allowed, so there are some obvious areas of concern.
Fortunately, both Harden and the rest of his team have got plenty of time to turn things around, and Harden definitely showed signs of life versus Indiana on Friday night.
Really rough start for the Clippers' backcourt (really rough)
It&rsquo;s been a rough five games for the Los Angeles Clippers. Playing without both Kawhi Leonard and Serge Ibaka, it was probably fair to assume that they wouldn&rsquo;t come storming out the gate, but a 1-4 start has got to be considered somewhat disappointing. That&rsquo;s especially true considering the relatively strong play of Paul George.
George enters play on Oct. 31 averaging 27.6 points per game to go along with an incredible 3.4 steals per game. He&rsquo;s also averaging 7.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists per contest while shooting what would be a career-best 50% from the field. But he&rsquo;s pretty much the only starter who has things going for them at the moment.
Reggie Jackson and Eric Bledsoe comprise the Clippers&rsquo; starting backcourt, and they haven&rsquo;t necessarily been inspiring. The duo are combining to score just 24 points per game on a miserable 26.5% shooting from deep.
Surprisingly, the team&rsquo;s bench has been decent. As a unit, the reserves rank 13th in the league in scoring. The major issue, is the lack of efficiency with which everyone not named Paul George has been scoring.&nbsp;
Overall, the team ranks 26th in field goal percentage (42%), 24th in three-point percentage (31.7%) and 27th in free throw attempts per game (17.2).
Obviously, it would be difficult for any team to sustain without players the caliber of Leonard and Ibaka, but the Clippers were hoping to see Terance Mann and Ivica Zubac take a step forward and for Justise Winslow to have an impact. It hasn&rsquo;t been the case so far.
Nobody even notices Bradley Beal&rsquo;s somewhat slow start
Although both Damian Lillard and the Milwaukee Bucks are surprising for the wrong seasons, it is the Washington Wizards who are most worthy of our affection at the moment.
Like the Knicks, the Wizards enter play on Oct. 31 with a 5-1 record, with their last three wins coming over the Celtics (who they beat twice) and the Hawks. It would be easy to give Bradley Beal the credit for the team&rsquo;s early success, but with 24.4 points per game, he&rsquo;s scoring almost seven less points per game than he did last season. He&rsquo;s also been shooting quite poorly, managing just 36.3% from the field and a miserable 21.6% from three-point territory.
So what gives?
It would be the team&rsquo;s supporting cast, plain and simple.
Entering play on Oct. 31, three of the Wizards&rsquo; newcomers are averaging at least 15 points per game &mdash; Spencer Dinwiddie (19.8), Montrezl Harrell (19.3) and Kyle Kuzma (15.5). They&rsquo;ve also gotten good minutes from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Raul Neto and Deni Avdija.
Put quite simply: the pieces fit.
If there is an area of concern for Wes Unseld&rsquo;s team, it would be that they&rsquo;re not sharing the ball exceptionally well. The Wizards manage just 20.5 assists per game, which ranks them 26th in the league. They&rsquo;ve already had seven different players start a game, thanks partially to both Dinwiddie and Beal missing a game each&hellip; So the search or chemistry and continuity continues.
Nonetheless, the Wizards have gotten off to an impressive start, and although many people expected them to be an improved club from last season, few predicted they&rsquo;d be sitting atop the East at any point.
Don&rsquo;t tell Russell Westbrook.
&mdash;&mdash;
If there&rsquo;s anything we&rsquo;ve learned about the NBA from years past, it&rsquo;s that the regular season is a marathon. Guys are going to get hurt and some will have hot stretches, while some will cool down. Some guys will transform as they begin their primes, while age and attrition will take a toll on others. It&rsquo;s the nature of the game.
Nonetheless, after about two weeks and six games, every team has at least a small sample size to help draw some conclusions, figure out what works and determine what doesn&rsquo;t.

The Knicks and Wizards have given their fans reason to smile. James Harden and Reggie Jackson? Not so much.

5 early NBA surprises after two weeks of regular season action

The NBA announced in early August that the 2021-22 season&rsquo;s salary cap would be $112.414 million, and the luxury tax threshold will be $136.606 million. That means that if rosters remain unchanged for the duration of the season &ndash; which we know will never happen &ndash; 13 teams will pay the luxury tax.
Those teams will be the Brooklyn Nets ($176.573 million in payroll), Golden State Warriors ($174.854 million), Los Angeles Clippers ($166.384 million), Los Angeles Lakers ($163.121 million), Milwaukee Bucks ($158.206 million), Utah Jazz ($153.954 million), Philadelphia 76ers ($143.668 million), Boston Celtics ($143.524 million), Portland Trail Blazers ($140.566 million), Miami Heat ($139.645 million), Washington Wizards ($138.710 million), Toronto Raptors ($137.624 million) and the Indiana Pacers ($137.567 million), <a href="https://hoopshype.com/salaries/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to HoopsHype.com</a> &nbsp;&ndash; meaning that nearly half of the league will pay into the luxury tax.&nbsp;
The NBA utilizes a progressive tax system that dictates that teams less than $10 million over the threshold pay a dollar-for-dollar tax, teams over by between $10-to-$15 million pay $2.50 for every dollar over the threshold, teams over by between $15-to-$20 million pay $3.25 for every dollar over the threshold and so on. But ignoring the business implications of paying the luxury tax, how many of these teams are getting the bang for their buck in relation to the total cost of those payrolls and how easy might it be for them to get back under it? Let&rsquo;s explore each team's situation:
Brooklyn Nets: $39.967 million over 
The Nets enter the 2021-22 season as the presumptive favorites to win the NBA championship. They re-signed Kevin Durant to a 4-year/$198 million extension. They also added Patty Mills and James Johnson, but lost Jeff Green. Ultimately, it&rsquo;s worth the price for Brooklyn so long as Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden can remain healthy for playoffs &ndash; so if you&rsquo;re the Nets, you pay anything you can to keep this group together. (Editor's Note: This payroll will change once <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nets-trading-deandre-jordan-to-pistons-for-sekou-doumbouya-jahlil-okafor" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Friday's trade for Sekou Doumbouya and Jahlil Okafor</a> is made official on Sept. 15)
Takeaway: Worth it!
Golden State Warriors: $38.239 million over
The Warriors are in a very different situation than the Nets. They are not presumptive favorites. In fact, they may be in a fight for a playoff spot in the Western Conference for another year. Still, the Warriors have to shell out the dough. Their new arena, the Chase Center, opened in downtown San Francisco just in time for the 2019-20 season. COVID-19 has obviously hindered the Warriors ability to extract income from their new home, but it&rsquo;s finally time to cash in. Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green will fill the arena&rsquo;s seats. They probably won&rsquo;t be pure buyers at the deadline &ndash; although we could see a move in which Golden State swaps some of its young talent in exchange for a more age-appropriate fit &ndash; but the Warriors will not ship out pieces just to cut costs.
Takeaway: Not objectively worth it; but not *not* worth it.
Los Angeles Clippers: $29.778 million over
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is probably a little stressed right now &ndash; or he would be if paying his team&rsquo;s payroll had any real impact on his net worth. Either way, the Clippers appear poised to write a big check to the NBA for... another championship-less season. With Kawhi Leonard out for the foreseeable future with a partially torn ACL, the team's hopes for a title are likely out too &ndash; and they&rsquo;re on the hook for his $36 million this season, which is essentially dead money. Fortunately, the Clippers' roster is still formidable. They&rsquo;ll still be a playoff team, even in the brutally competitive West, meaning they&rsquo;ll continue to be must-see TV. They can get back to contending for a championship next season.
Takeaway: Not worth it this year; but tough it out, next season will be better.&nbsp;
Los Angeles Lakers: $26.515 million over
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_10629395_lg.png" alt="" width="572" height="286" />
The Lakers are in a good spot... for now. Sure, they are on the hook for a big, honking tax check; but they also look like the best team in the West. Acquiring Russell Westbrook (in exchange for Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell) adds another major salary to the Lakers&rsquo; books. But Westbrook, along with Carmelo Anthony, Kendrick Nunn, Malik Monk, Kent Bazemore, Dwight Howard and Rajon Rondo, are big-time additions. LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Westbrook might not coexist perfectly, which could result in as disappointing an outcome as the 2003-04 Lakers, but what options did they have? The Nets are stacked, and the Lakers want to win.
Takeaway: Worth it, but it could also end really badly.&nbsp;
Milwaukee Bucks: $21.6 million over
The Bucks are obviously happy with the outcome of last season. And despite what Jerry Krause would&rsquo;ve had you believe, you always bring back a defending-champion roster; Milwaukee did mostly that. The team brought George Hill back on board and added Grayson Allen. They interestingly let P.J. Tucker walk, but they&rsquo;re still well-stocked. The Bucks could be buyers at the deadline; but they&rsquo;ll be operating under a hard cap, so it&rsquo;ll be tricky.
Takeaway: The champs should always be kept together. Worth it!
Utah Jazz: $17.348 million over
The Jazz are unassuming, but their roster is rock solid, and they finished last season with the best record in the NBA. Had it not been for injuries to Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell heading into the playoffs, who knows what might have been in a year where the presumptive favorites were both eliminated before the conference finals. But the Jazz enter the 2021-22 season looking even better, having added Rudy Gay and Hassan Whiteside, and re-signing Mike Conley. Utah let Derrick Favors and Georges Niang walk, but still enter the season with approximately $154 million in salary. Utah will likely stand pat for the season in hopes of making a run at a championship.
Takeaway: Worth it!&nbsp;
Philadelphia 76ers: $7.062 million over
The 76ers are in an unenviable situation with Ben Simmons, who has decided that <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/ben-simmons-tells-sixers-he-wants-out-intends-to-skip-training-camp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he wants out of Philadelphia</a>. Simmons will make $33 million in 2021-22, and his deal is guaranteed through the 2024-25 season. So, it&rsquo;s safe to assume there will be some changes regarding the Sixers' team salary. The two teams most <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-trade-destinations-for-ben-simmons" target="_blank" rel="noopener">commonly associated with Simmons</a> &ndash; the Minnesota Timberwolves and Sacramento Kings &ndash; have payrolls below the luxury tax threshold, meaning they both have more wiggle room to maneuver in trades. Philadelphia could end up with a slightly lower payroll than it has now after a Simmons deal inevitably takes place, but the team's outlook is very much undecided less than a month from the start of the season. That&rsquo;s not where you want to be as a team with championship aspirations.
Takeaway: Depends on what happens with Simmons, but it&rsquo;s probably not going to be worth it. &nbsp;
Boston Celtics: $6.918 million over 
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_15355620_lg.png" alt="" width="570" height="285" />
From a salary standpoint, Boston and new team president Brad Stevens have maneuvered smartly. They shed Kemba Walker&rsquo;s painful contract, receiving Al Horford in the exchange. They backfilled Walker&rsquo;s spot with Dennis Schroder, who only cost $5.9 million for a year. They also added Josh Richardson ($11.615 million) via free agency and a $17 million trade exception from a sign-and-trade with the Knicks for Evan Fournier. If the right player becomes available, they could use that TPE, or they could punt on 2021-22 in hopes of a brighter future. Still, the Celtics will only go as far as Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown take them. (Editor's Note: This payroll will change once <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/mem-agrees-to-trade-hernangomez-to-bos-for-dunn-edwards-pick-swap" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Friday's trade for Juancho Hernangomez</a> is made official on Sept. 15)
Takeaway: Not worth it, but Boston made some headway in cleaning up a previously cluttered salary cap.
Portland Trail Blazers: $3.96 million over
Portland finally did something this offseason, swapping out Derrick Jones Jr. for Larry Nance Jr in a three-team trade with the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers. Nance will be a good fit for the Trail Blazers, but they didn&rsquo;t add nearly enough to improve to the extent that they&rsquo;ll compete in the Western Conference.&nbsp;
Takeaway: Not worth it. Portland should get very creative, and fast &ndash; or risk losing Lillard.
Miami Heat: $3.039 million over
It seems like Miami is perpetually either in contention or one piece away from it. After a surprise trip to the NBA Finals in 2019-20, the Heat very well may have added that piece in Kyle Lowry. They also stole PJ Tucker away from Milwaukee, and kept their core intact. The Heat&rsquo;s cap situation gets very tricky in a few years, and it&rsquo;ll get even tricker if they sign Tyler Herro to a long-term extension; but for now, you can&rsquo;t blame Miami for going for it.
Takeaway: Worth it, for now.&nbsp;
Washington Wizards: $2.104 million over 
The Wizards had themselves a good offseason. They turned Russell Westbrook into Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell Pope and Montrezl Harrell, and they added Spencer Dinwiddie and Aaron Holiday. Still, the Wizards are going to have to play incredibly well just to qualify for the playoffs, and that&rsquo;s not what teams paying the luxury tax hope to accomplish.
Takeaway: Not worth it, but at least they&rsquo;ll be competitive.
Toronto Raptors: $1.018 million over
The Raptors are entering a mini-rebuild. With Kyle Lowry moving on, the Raptors will look to build around Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam and Scottie Barnes. They&rsquo;ll probably look to move Goran Dragic, who publicly voiced displeasure with landing in Toronto, so they&rsquo;ll likely end the year with a slightly different look.
Takeaway: Not worth it, but they could be interesting.&nbsp;
Indiana Pacers: $961,000 over
Indiana didn&rsquo;t make any major changes, and is stuck in quasi-purgatory as the Pacers gauge what their team can do. Ultimately, they will probably let results dictate their course of action. If they&rsquo;re in the playoff picture as we approach the trade deadline, they could be buyers. Conversely, if Indiana struggles, it could just as easily sell some assets.
Takeaway: Well-positioned to move under the tax threshold.&nbsp;
The luxury tax can be incredibly punitive; and, unfortunately, it impacts how teams make roster decisions. Looking beyond profitability, owners are right to demand a good return-on-investment when paying the luxury tax. No one wants to cut a big check for nothing. Be on the lookout for teams that aren&rsquo;t competitive to look to shed salary before the deadline. Conversely, teams in contention will look to add talent regardless of where they are pertaining to the luxury tax.&nbsp;

Drew Maresca examines the 13 teams in the NBA paying the luxury tax and whether their respective rosters justify the spending.

How projected NBA luxury tax-payer teams look in 2021-22

The 2021-22 NBA season is right around the corner. One month from now, training camps will get underway. This season, BasketballNews.com will be covering the NBA from every possible angle, including ramped-up sports-betting content.
After providing some <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/5-best-bets-on-future-nba-awardwinners" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interesting future bets on the NBA award races</a>, let's take a look at the 2021-22 playoff odds. Many teams went all-in this offseason, determined to make the playoffs and go on a run.
After examining the 2021-22 playoff odds, seven teams stand out as worthy fliers. Let&rsquo;s dive into which organizations have intriguing odds that you can capitalize on before it&rsquo;s too late.
MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES: +575 odds to make playoffs
Realistically, the team that could make you a lot of money by the end of the regular season resides in Minnesota. Although the Western Conference is still loaded &ndash; with as many as 12 teams having realistic playoff aspirations &ndash; don&rsquo;t sleep on the Timberwolves finally making a push.
Karl-Anthony Towns is one of the most gifted scorers in the Association and a consistent 40% three-point shooter. Last year's No. 1 overall pick Anthony Edwards <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/basketball-news-will-anthony-edwards-surge-lead-to-nba-rookie-of-the-year-award-minnesota-timberwolves" target="_blank" rel="noopener">made a leap in the second half</a> of his rookie season, averaging 23.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.9 threes and 1.4 steals in 36 games after the All-Star break. He should build off of that during his sophomore campaign, and he could crack 25.0 points per game. D&rsquo;Angelo Russell has struggled with injuries during his year-plus stint in Minnesota, but he&rsquo;s another offensive weapon that Minnesota can utilize. The Timberwolves&rsquo; roster features a lot of youth and a lot of subpar defenders, but a whole lot of points will be scored. Minnesota is hoping to out-race teams in "track-meet" style matchups where reaching 130-plus points each night is the primary objective.
Here's another underrated reason why you should take a flier on Minnesota at +575 playoff odds: the Ben Simmons rumors. Minnesota is reportedly the one team who has continually kept a dialogue going with Philadelphia. Now, after acquiring big expiring contracts in Taurean Prince and Patrick Beverley this offseason, the Wolves can make a deal work cap-wise while also throwing in a sweetener like up-and-coming prospect Jaden McDaniels. Philadelphia&rsquo;s asking price is absurd, but Minnesota can offer picks plus Prince, Beverley, McDaniels and Josh Okogie to make the salaries work. The Sixers will likely want a third team to get involved to create a more appealing package, but don&rsquo;t rule out Minnesota as Simmons&rsquo; eventual destination. If that happens, you&rsquo;ll be lucky to have chased these +575 odds before they might break even within a few months time.
WASHINGTON WIZARDS: +500 odds to make playoffs
The 2021-22 season may be the Wizards&rsquo; last chance to impress Bradley Beal. Entering the final year of his contract, Beal could become an unrestricted free agent next offseason. The Wizards will <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/washington/wizards/bradley-beal-will-be-eligible-extension-wizards-offseason" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> offer him to a max extension this summer, but it remains to be seen if he's interested in signing it.
Regardless, give Wizards GM Tommy Sheppard some credit. Once Russell Westbrook asked out, he retooled Washington&rsquo;s roster on the fly and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/wizards-retooling-led-to-a-competent-roster-surrounding-bradley-beal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">built a competent rotation</a> best suited to fit Beal&rsquo;s special skillset. Spencer Dinwiddie is the perfect backcourt partner alongside Beal. Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope add more scoring punch. Rui Hachimura, Deni Avdija and Corey Kispert are talented prospects who provide versatility. Davis Bertans should have a bounce-back season beyond the arc and provide elite shooting. Daniel Gafford, Montrezl Harrell and Thomas Bryant is an intriguing trio of big men. Overall, Washington now has a deeper rotation that should fit together better than last year's group.
If everything clicks for the Wizards, they should push for a playoff spot (perhaps with a second-straight appearance in the play-in tournament). Although Westbrook is gone, Beal should be able to lead a more well-rounded roster to a record above .500. If that&rsquo;s the case, betting on Washington right now at +500 odds seems like a smart investment.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS: +200 odds to miss playoffs
Damian Lillard seems to have one foot out the door in Portland. Fed up with the Blazers&rsquo; <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/roundtable-which-nba-team-had-the-worst-offseason" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lack of urgency to build a contender around him</a>, nothing has really changed since he vented about how additional changes were needed. GM Neil Olshey re-signed Norman Powell (who fits well alongside Lillard) on a five-year deal and added Cody Zeller, Tony Snell and Ben McLemore to improve Portland's second unit. The Blazers also traded Derrick Jones Jr. and a future lottery-protected first-round pick to bring in Larry Nance Jr., who is <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/what-larry-nance-jr-brings-to-the-portland-trail-blazers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a perfect complementary piece that should help on both ends</a> of the floor.
Aside from Nance, the additions are pretty underwhelming, and the team lost Carmelo Anthony, Enes Kanter and Zach Collins. Considering what's at stake, it's surprising that the Blazers didn't make more moves to show Lillard that the organization is committed to winning. Olshey and Co. are playing a very dangerous game here, especially if the Blazers stagnate in the standings next season.
If teams like Minnesota, New Orleans and Memphis see a big leap from their young cores, Portland could find themselves outside of the playoff picture. And if that&rsquo;s the case, Lillard will be gone next offseason.
At +200 odds to miss the playoffs, it&rsquo;s a worthy gamble when you realize the Lillard situation hangs over the organization. If the Blazers get off to a slow start, could Lillard ask out mid-season? At the moment,&nbsp; it's hard to feel comfortable about Portland&rsquo;s playoff hopes.
CHARLOTTE HORNETS: +175 odds to make playoffs
Charlotte <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/hornets-ready-to-fly-up-standings-following-strong-offseason" target="_blank" rel="noopener">quietly had one of the best offseasons</a> in the Association. Not only did they re-sign Terry Rozier on a four-year deal, they also brought in Kelly Oubre Jr. to add some more scoring potency off their bench. Mason Plumlee, who has been a steady starting center over the years, was acquired pretty much for free. Add in the draft picks of James Bouknight and Kai Jones, and Charlotte will be one of the most fun teams to monitor throughout the 2021-22 season.
LaMelo Ball is poised to take another leap in his sophomore campaign, which should help bolster Charlotte&rsquo;s playoff probabilities even further. The Hornets&rsquo; rotation is now 10-11 players deep, which hasn&rsquo;t been the case in years. With a nice blend of win-now veterans alongside promising high-upside prospects, Charlotte could be one of the best bets to make off this list.&nbsp;
Gordon Hayward&rsquo;s health will also play a factor here. The Hornets were above .500 before Hayward went down with a season-ending injury. Despite Hayward's injury and Ball being sidelined for a significant stretch, the Hornets still earned a spot in the East's play-in tournament last year. If Hayward can stay healthy throughout the regular season and their offseason additions fit in, Charlotte could comfortably finish in the East's top-eight for the first time since 2015-16.&nbsp;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/zw_lg.jpg" alt="" width="753" height="386" />
NEW ORLEANS PELICANS: +170 odds to make playoffs
It's always fun to bet on Zion Williamson, who has already reached superstardom. After averaging 27.0 points during his sophomore season, Williamson could realistically average 30.0 or more now that the new-look Pelicans will have better floor-spacing. A smart head-coaching hire (Willie Green) and roster upgrades around the margins should lead to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/by-making-zion-williamsons-job-easier-the-pelicans-should-finally-have-real-playoff-potential" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a boost in performance from New Orleans</a>.
Brandon Ingram is flying under the radar as well. If Ingram continues to be one of the most promising two-way wings in the Association, New Orleans is cooking with gas in 2021-22.
It will be tough to break through in a loaded Western Conference, but Williamson is a generational talent. If the Pelicans find success early in the regular season, they could ride that wave of momentum toward a play-in appearance. With Williiamson in a win-or-go-home situation for a playoff spot, I&rsquo;m betting on New Orleans.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
INDIANA PACERS: +145 odds to miss the playoffs
Everything went wrong for the Pacers last season. Nate Bjorkgren was an awful head coach who failed to relate to players and whose scheme didn&rsquo;t match the roster. Rick Carlisle&rsquo;s return to Indiana is a huge deal for an organization that <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/pacers-face-makeorbreak-202122-season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">needs to succeed in a make-or-break 2021-22 season</a>. If the Pacers fail to make significant headway, big changes are in store for this roster.
Again, the Eastern Conference looks to be very much improved. Chicago may have leapfrogged Indiana in their division. Charlotte and Washington might be doing the same thing with solid rosters that could immediately fit together well. Meanwhile, Indiana has questions. Will Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/can-rick-carlisle-make-a-domantas-sabonis-myles-turner-pairing-work-for-the-pacers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">find success with their jumbo-sized frontcourt</a>? Will T.J. Warren <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/a-100-million-payday-awaits-tj-warren-if-he-continues-to-silence-the-critics" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stay healthy in a contract year</a>? What can we expect from the backcourt of Malcolm Brogdon and Caris LeVert, which barely played together last season due to separate injuries?
On paper, the Pacers have a solid squad. However, if they get off to a slow start, they could be one of the teams ready to sell-high around the trade deadline. They have a number of attractive pieces and rival executives have been circling like vultures for a while (just look at how often Turner has surfaced in trade rumors). At +145 odds, this seems like a flier worth taking.
NEW YORK KNICKS: +125 odds to miss the playoffs
After a really solid offseason, it's clear that the Knicks are banking on continuity. Also, bringing aboard Evan Fournier and Kemba Walker should help bolster a rotation that was already impressively deep. However, could the Knicks be the team that regresses the most in 2021-22? It&rsquo;s a realistic possibility, especially with how many young squads in the Eastern Conference are on the rise.
What if Julius Randle stagnates and doesn&rsquo;t improve? They'll need him to continue playing at a high level, while R.J. Barrett, Obi Toppin, Immanuel Quickley and their 2021 rookie class must hit the ground running early in the regular season too.
New York finished as the No. 4 seed last season, but for the first time in years, there will be real drama surrounding the East's playoff picture.
Tom Thibodeau helped the Knicks overachieve last season. The question is, can this team do it again? It's possible they take a step forward and once again earn homecourt advantage in the playoffs. But it truly could go either way for the Knicks, making this a worthy bet at +125.

Which NBA teams could win you some money come playoff time? Evan Sidery looks at 7 teams whose postseason odds stand out.

2021-22 NBA playoff odds: 7 teams worth betting on

The Boston Celtics are up to something.
Although it&rsquo;s been a quiet offseason, it&rsquo;s easy to read between the lines of how they&rsquo;re planning their next big move under former-head-coach-turned-general-manager Brad Stevens. Flexibility is the name of the game in today&rsquo;s NBA to keep all options open, and the Celtics now have it available in spades.
Beginning with their pre-draft trade that shipped out Kemba Walker and their first-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Al Horford, the pieces were being put together to optimally build a consistent contender around Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Walker&rsquo;s fit with the Celtics never materialized to levels they had hoped, and that was after a tumultuous Kyrie Irving divorce thanks to injury concerns and two-way stability alongside their young 1-2 duo on the wing.
Horford not only brings back a familiar face to the Celtics&rsquo; locker room, which immediately helps team chemistry, but it gives Tatum even more chances to shoot the basketball. Tatum averaged 29 points per game once the calendar flipped to March, showcasing a blossoming game on the verge of superstardom.
With their two building blocks in place, Stevens sought out chemistry and flexibility for the future of the roster. Signing Marcus Smart and Robert Williams to long-term extensions was a savvy play not only because they&rsquo;re valuable pieces to the Celtics&rsquo; current success, but they are not crippling salaries on annual value in case of potential trades down the road. The same goes for Josh Richardson, whom Boston acquired using one of its trade exceptions before free agency and signed to a one-year extension.
When diving into the numbers, it&rsquo;s eye-opening how calculated the Celtics are being right now. Sure, they would love to keep their current core together long-term surrounding Tatum and Brown, but the message is crystal-clear. Boston is on the hunt for another star with a bevy of manageable contracts, young prospects and future picks at its disposal.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
One name that continues to make the most sense is Bradley Beal. Tatum and Beal are close friends who grew up in the same area of St. Louis, Missouri. Their bond runs deep, and Beal&rsquo;s fit next to his longtime friend in Tatum on the basketball court is simply phenomenal. Forming a lethal 1-2 scoring combination, the Celtics would put themselves in the same tier with Brooklyn and Milwaukee as top NBA Finals contenders year-in and year-out.
With no cap space to sign Beal outright &mdash; and he has a $36 million player option after next season that will likely be declined &mdash; Boston has the tools to create a compelling sign-and-trade offer so the Washington Wizards would not be empty-handed if Beal departed. Adding up the new deals for Smart (4-years, $77 million), Williams (4-years, $54 million) and Richardson, Boston has $41 million in salary between those three for 2022-23. That&rsquo;s right on the money for a potential Beal sign-and-trade next offseason. Other options include the double-expiring contracts of Horford and Richardson, but surely Washington would want something of value in return if Beal forced his way to a conference rival.
Sure, the Wizards can obviously play hardball to avoid a scenario like this, but player empowerment holds the cards nowadays. If Beal decides he wants to play with Tatum in Boston on a new massive contract, he&rsquo;s going to make sure it happens one way or another.
This is such an important year for the Wizards to help convince Beal their retooled roster is worthy of him signing a five-year supermax extension to stay in Washington. Adding Spencer Dinwiddie, Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Corey Kispert adds versatility across the board after Russell Westbrook&rsquo;s exit to the Los Angeles Lakers. The roster is better suited to cater to Beal&rsquo;s strengths as an offensive engine that can score 30-to-40 points on any given night. However, will it be enough in the end when Beal has mentioned he wants to win big in the next stage of his career?
Well, one team is watching already, as Boston waits with bated breath to see what happens next in D.C. You'd assume that Tatum has to be Beal&rsquo;s ear constantly, wanting to team up with his friend. Now, everyone has to sit back and wait throughout the 2021-22 season to see if it happens.
Whether it be Beal or another star who eventually asks out around the Association, Boston&rsquo;s offseason moves signify something is eventually coming down the road with a massive splash.
As we&rsquo;ve learned throughout NBA history, never count the 17-time NBA champion Boston Celtics from getting back to elite status.
Luring Tatum&rsquo;s All-Star friend away from a division rival would be one hell of a coup to do so.

Following three team-friendly contract extensions, Boston is valuing continuity. However, there may be an ace up its sleeve waiting to be played.

Celtics well-positioned to star-hunt following status-quo summer

The 2021 NBA offseason featured blockbuster trades, draft-day surprises and some big-name players changing teams. Those are typically the transactions that garner the most attention, but what were some of the under-the-radar moves that deserve to be highlighted?
Now that most of the free agents have signed and the dust has settled, we asked our writers:
What was your favorite "underrated move" of this offseason?
Jackson Frank: I really liked the Pistons nabbing Kelly Olynyk. A versatile offensive big man to pair with their young guards in Cade Cunningham and Killian Hayes is so important. He&rsquo;s going to help facilitate their development and ease some of their creation burden with his pick-and-pops, dribble handoffs and mismatch-hunting in the post. Good, complementary players for young dudes is critical and Olynyk is exactly the former.
Alex Kennedy: Victor Oladipo went from being regarded as one of the top free agents in this class to a complete afterthought. After signing a one-year, minimum deal with the Heat, he's the ultimate low-risk, high-reward addition. If it doesn't work out, Miami can cut him or let him walk. If he gets healthy and has a strong bounce-back season, he'll be a steal. The 29-year-old will need to make an impact in order to ink a more lucrative deal next offseason. Oladipo's days as an All-NBA player are likely over, but he doesn't even need to play at that level in order to drastically outperform this contract. Despite his struggles last year, he averaged 20.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 2.6 threes and 1.3 steals in 29 games with the Rockets and Pacers. After Oladipo's season-ending quad surgery in May, his surgeon <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/31489484/miami-heat-victor-oladipo-cleared-full-contact-basketball-november-doctor-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told ESPN</a>, "I was amazed he was playing with what he had. I'm very optimistic that I could clear him in six months, by November." If he was able to put up those numbers on a badly-injured quad that he had no business playing on, he should be able to help the Heat. Miami had an exciting offseason &mdash; from acquiring Kyle Lowry to signing P.J. Tucker to extending Jimmy Butler and Duncan Robinson &mdash; but re-signing Oladipo at the minimum was another impressive move that could look really smart come playoff time.
Nekias Duncan: I like Isaac Bonga heading to Toronto. There&rsquo;s been a clear emphasis in adding rangy defenders, and Bonga fits the bill while adding a hint of ball skills. I felt like he was a bit buried in Washington, so I&rsquo;m interested to see if he gets more burn.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/patty2_lg.jpg" alt="" width="782" height="391" />
Spencer Davies: Patty Mills to the Brooklyn Nets on a two-year, $12 million deal. With Spencer Dinwiddie leaving and no regularly-dependable backup in the backcourt, Mills will bring an edge and depth to Steve Nash&rsquo;s second unit in this go-round. While he may not be the FIBA Patty that everybody loves, Mills will not hesitate to take shots and bury triples when one of James Harden or Kyrie Irving is getting a rest. That&rsquo;s going to make Brooklyn a tough customer from a pace standpoint, as well.
Imman Adan: It&rsquo;s not that the move itself was underrated, but I'm surprised that people are more focused on what the Wizards-Lakers trade means for Los Angeles and for Bradley Beal rather than focusing on how much of a win it is for Washington. John Wall&rsquo;s massive contract was widely considered one of the worst deals in the league, yet they turned him into Russell Westbrook and then turned Westbrook into multiple talented rotation pieces and no behemoth contract. Just a massive win for the Wizards' books.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Chris Sheridan: That would be Miami signing P.J. Tucker away from Milwaukee. I am a huge fan of guys who kill it on defense, and we saw P.J. do a great job against the Brooklyn Nets in their second-round series when the Bucks came back from being down 3-2. Milwaukee is going to miss that guy. The reason they got him in the first place was to have someone who could guard opposing forwards in the postseason, and there will come a time when the Bucks realize how much they miss him. Both Tucker and Jimmy Butler really get after it on the defensive end, so kudos to Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra and Andy Elisburg for snatching Tucker away from the Bucks in free agency.
Ethan Fuller: I'm a big fan of the Los Angeles Clippers' draft class as a whole. The Clippers went after their favorite prospects, trading up to get uber-athletic Keon Johnson at No. 21 and cerebral playmaker Jason Preston at No. 33. Then, they took a flier on a former five-star player in Brandon Boston Jr. with the No. 51 pick. All three possess immense upside, and the Clippers are deep enough where they don't need any rookie to step into the rotation right away.
Evan Sidery: In terms of overall value, the Phoenix Suns hit a home run re-signing backup point guard Cameron Payne to a three-year, $19 million deal. Compared to other backup facilitators, Payne&rsquo;s annual value fell well below what others have been paid over the last few offseasons. After Phoenix gave Payne a chance to revive his NBA career, the 27-year-old point guard returned the favor by giving the Suns a discount. Payne, who has become a wonderful fit within their system, will continue to play a vital role for the Suns as a key cog to their improved second unit. Payne, Landry Shamet, Cameron Johnson and JaVale McGee will give Phoenix such a strong bench.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Jesse Blancarte: The Los Angeles Clippers&rsquo; trade for Eric Bledsoe. There may be some pushback on this selection, but hear me out. Yes, Eric Bledsoe has struggled over the last few seasons. Yes, Patrick Beverley is a high-level defender (when healthy) and was an emotional leader for the Clippers. Yes, Rajon Rondo has championship experience and is capable of elevating his game in the postseason. But with this deal, the Clippers lowered this season's luxury-tax payment significantly, opened a needed roster spot and took a reasonable chance on Bledsoe having a bounce-back season. With Kawhi Leonard sidelined for possibly the entire season, Bledsoe offers another playmaker who can attack the basket and defend multiple positions.
Drew Maresca: This one&rsquo;s easy &mdash; Kemba Walker to New York. It flew under the radar given the timing of the move relative to the other major signings, but adding a legitimate point guard who is just <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/an-indepth-breakdown-on-how-and-why-kemba-walker-will-help-the-knicks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">two years removed from an All-Star selection</a> is a big deal for a team that&rsquo;s been looking for a reliable point guard for (literally) decades. Just two years ago, Walker signed a four-year max contract worth $141 million, so the fact that New York was able to sign him to a two-year, $18 million deal makes the move even more impactful.
Jonathan Concool: P.J. Tucker to the Heat. 100%. I think this also wins because absolutely no one saw this move coming. Tucker, who is coming off his first championship with the Milwaukee Bucks, was expected to remain with the team considering how much he contributed during their postseason run. However, Pat Riley had other plans. The Heat nailed their offseason &mdash; re-signing Duncan Robinson and Jimmy Butler, acquiring Kyle Lowry, and then bringing in more veteran, championship experience in Tucker. Tucker does so many things that don&rsquo;t show up on a box score and he'll be a key contributor for the Heat, who are clearly serious about making another deep playoff run.
Jannelle Moore: My pick for the best underrated move is JaVale McGee joining the Phoenix Suns. The Milwaukee Bucks exposed Phoenix&rsquo;s lack of depth at center. By signing McGee &mdash; a serviceable big with playoff experience and three championships on his resume &mdash; the Suns addressed that need.

Now that most of the free agents have signed and the dust has settled, what were some of the most underrated offseason moves?

NBA Roundtable: Breaking down this offseason's most underrated moves

<div>
The 2021 NBA Draft is less than a week away. Fireworks are always set off (one way or another) on draft night, making it one of the best dates on the Association&rsquo;s yearly calendar. This year looks to be no different, as certain teams have been very aggressive and plenty of trade rumors have been surfacing recently.
</div>
<div>
Matt Babcock, our NBA Draft analyst, has been hearing the same rumblings.
</div>
<div>
&ldquo;There seems to be a lot of trade chatter this year, so do not be surprised if we have some deals involving lottery picks,&rdquo; Babcock <a href="https://twitter.com/MattBabcock11/status/1417526240722911234" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a>.
</div>
<div>
So, who will shake things up once they&rsquo;re on the clock? Which players could be on the move? When looking around the league, six names stand out as possible trade chips.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
</div>
<div>
Myles Turner, Indiana Pacers
</div>
<div>
What will the Pacers do with their big-man duo of Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner? I recently wrote about whether Indiana&rsquo;s jumbo-big-man <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/can-rick-carlisle-make-a-domantas-sabonis-myles-turner-pairing-work-for-the-pacers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">duo can coexist</a>. The numbers show that they shouldn&rsquo;t play Sabonis and Turner together (and Rick Carlisle has talked about staggering them), which means Indiana should definitely shop one or the other on draft night.
</div>
<div>
Knowing the value of Sabonis as an offensive hub (similar to Nikola Jokic and Nikola Vucevic), the Pacers would be wise to find the best value out there for Turner instead.
</div>
<div>
Many teams around the league would be clamoring for a win-now piece like Turner, who can be an elite shot-blocking anchor for a defense, while also spreading the floor adequately from three-point range. Multiple teams showed interest in Turner last offseason. For example, the Boston Celtics were in talks with Indiana about a potential Gordon Hayward sign-and-trade involving Turner.
</div>
<div>
According to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/warriors-pacers-have-reportedly-discussed-trade-involving-myles-turner" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Ringer&rsquo;s Kevin O&rsquo;Connor</a>, the Golden State Warriors have entered into discussions with Indiana surrounding Turner. The fit for Turner with Golden State is amazing. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson have always missed a big man with the talents of Turner. Golden State&rsquo;s stars are reportedly <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/warriors-interested-in-bradley-beal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pushing for a win-now move</a>, and the team has been trying to deal their two lottery picks (No. 7 and No. 14) for a player who can help elevate them back into the Western Conference&rsquo;s elite tier. Adding Turner alongside Curry, Thompson, and Draymond Green would do just that.
A trade package revolving around Andrew Wiggins and multiple picks could potentially get the job done for Indiana, who would also send out Jeremy Lamb for salary-matching purposes.
</div>
<div>
Golden State receives: Myles Turner, Jeremy Lamb, No. 13 pick
</div>
<div>
Indiana receives: Andrew Wiggins, No. 7 pick, No. 14 pick
</div>
<div>
Kemba Walker, Oklahoma City Thunder
</div>
<div>
Kemba Walker is in a weird spot right now. After leaving Charlotte for Boston, which didn&rsquo;t go well in terms of the on-court fit alongside the Celtics&rsquo; young core, Walker and the No. 16 pick were <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/rapid-reaction-to-boston-trading-kemba-walker-for-al-horford-moses-brown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shipped to Oklahoma City</a> in exchange for Al Horford, Moses Brown and a second-round pick.
</div>
<div>
A player of Walker&rsquo;s caliber shouldn&rsquo;t be long with the Thunder, though. Oklahoma City is in a full-fledged rebuild with countless picks over the next five-plus years. Even with three years remaining on his lucrative contract, Walker should intrigue some teams who are looking to bolster their playoff chances.
</div>
<div>
How about Kemba finally playing full-time in Madison Square Garden for the New York Knicks? New York will likely want to wait to see what happens with Damian Lillard in Portland before making any decision, but Walker&rsquo;s fit next to their young core is actually pretty interesting. Trotting out a starting lineup featuring Walker, Julius Randle, and R.J. Barrett fortifies the Knicks as a strong playoff team entering 2021-22.
</div>
<div>
As seen in the Celtics-Thunder trade, Walker&rsquo;s value is not high at all. New York could get the deal done sending one of their first-round picks plus a player to shed some of their own salary.
</div>
<div>
New York receives: Kemba Walker, No. 34 pick 
</div>
<div>
Oklahoma City receives: Kevin Knox, No. 21 pick
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
</div>
<div>
Buddy Hield, Sacramento Kings
</div>
<div>
Buddy Hield&rsquo;s tenure in Sacramento has been a roller coaster ride, to say the least. Bouncing back and forth from a starter to a sixth-man role, Hield&rsquo;s frustration with the organization feels like it&rsquo;s reached a boiling point. At times, he <a href="https://twitter.com/Chase_Everett_/status/1331428184445730817" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hasn&rsquo;t even tried to hide</a> his displeasure. With three years remaining on Hield&rsquo;s contract and this divorce seeming inevitable, perhaps the Kings will look to deal him this offseason.
</div>
<div>
Looking back at the Kings&rsquo; decision, choosing Hield over Bogdan Bogdanovic was a big mistake. Still, if Hield does become available, many teams would be calling to inquire about the sharpshooter. As one of the best three-point marksmen in the NBA, hitting 40.9% over his last four years, Hield could seemingly fit on any roster.
</div>
<div>
After a surprising first-round exit in this year&rsquo;s playoffs, the Los Angeles Lakers make so much sense as a potential suitor for Hield. Los Angeles has been floated in almost every rumor surrounding big free agents (from <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/lakers-want-veteran-point-guard-have-interest-in-chris-paul-russell-westbrook" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chris Paul</a> to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/kyle-lowry-demar-derozan-interested-in-joining-lakers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kyle Lowry</a> to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/kyle-lowry-demar-derozan-interested-in-joining-lakers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DeMar DeRozan</a>), but Hield&rsquo;s floor-spacing gravity would open up the offense even more for LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
</div>
<div>
Just imagine Hield as a third or fourth option, running around the perimeter while LeBron and AD do their damage on drives. This is something that Los Angeles should seriously explore, while also keeping their options open in free agency for potential sign-and-trades for a new starting point guard (*cough, Kyle Lowry, cough*).
</div>
<div>
For Sacramento, receiving a first-round pick along with a young player who fits their timeline in Kyle Kuzma feels like a win considering their current situation with Hield.
</div>
<div>
Los Angeles receives: Buddy Hield 
</div>
<div>
Sacramento receives: Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, No. 22 pick
</div>
<div>
Andrew Wiggins, Golden State Warriors
</div>
<div>
Golden State feels destined to make a move on draft night, no matter what size deal it may be. With two lottery picks at No. 7 and No. 14 overall, the Warriors are trying to make one final push for another championship in the Curry era.
</div>
<div>
Andrew Wiggins&rsquo; $31.6 million salary for the 2021-22 season puts the Warriors in any discussion for star-caliber players. Already included earlier in a hypothetical Myles Turner trade, Wiggins also makes sense in another scenario.
</div>
<div>
Pascal Siakam rumors have bubbled up occasionally over the last few weeks, as Toronto decides on their long-term vision. Siakam is &ldquo;considered available for trade by sources around the league,&rdquo; according to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/pascal-siakam-seen-around-the-league-as-available-for-trade" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report</a>. Holding the No. 4 overall pick in this year&rsquo;s draft, should the Raptors re-tool or rebuild?
</div>
<div>
If Toronto decides to blow it up, leaving behind only OG Anunoby, Fred VanVleet, and their top-five pick, a deal with Golden State makes way too much sense. The Warriors can send Wiggins, last year&rsquo;s No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman, and their two lottery picks, which is an enticing package that&rsquo;s hard to pass up. This deal also allows both teams to embrace their current directions (with Golden State in win-now mode and Toronto rebuilding).
</div>
<div>
Toronto receives: Andrew Wiggins, James Wiseman, No. 7 pick, No. 14 pick
</div>
<div>
Golden State receives: Pascal Siakam, Aron Baynes&nbsp;
</div>
<div>
Collin Sexton, Cleveland Cavaliers
</div>
<div>
Darius Garland is the prioritized member of the Cavaliers&rsquo; young backcourt, so Collin Sexton looks to be <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-landing-spots-for-collin-sexton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on the way out soon</a>. Cleveland is not comfortable paying Sexton a big chunk of money on his looming second contract, so finding the best potential deal on draft night could be the route they&rsquo;re headed.
</div>
<div>
Sexton is a score-first combo guard who averaged 24.3 points this past season for the Cavaliers. Many teams should be interested in acquiring the 22-year-old, but some organizations will be worried about whether those are empty-calorie stats.
</div>
<div>
One team that has already been rumored to be interested in Sexton is the New York Knicks. Sexton is a strong fit for the culture that head coach Tom Thibodeau is trying to build in New York, and he&rsquo;s another tantalizing piece to add to their young core alongside R.J. Barrett and Immanuel Quickley. Also, Sexton could be used later on as a trade piece for the next disgruntled superstar who asks out.
</div>
<div>
Sending Cleveland Obi Toppin, Kevin Knox, the No. 19 overall pick, plus a top second-round pick (No. 32 overall) feels like a fair package for both sides in this scenario.
</div>
<div>
New York receives: Collin Sexton 
</div>
<div>
Cleveland receives: Obi Toppin, Kevin Knox, No. 19, No. 32
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_16097138_lg.jpg" alt="" width="701" height="467" />
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
</div>
<div>
Ben Simmons, Philadelphia 76ers
</div>
<div>
Something has to give in the city of Brotherly Love this offseason. After an awful playoff performance, the Sixers must explore moving off of Ben Simmons&rsquo; massive max contract. For years, many have questioned the long-term fit between Simmons and Joel Embiid. After losing to the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, once again coming up short of an NBA Finals appearance, Philadelphia needs to make some tweaks to reach their ultimate goal.
</div>
<div>
Longtime NBA insider Marc Stein <a href="https://marcstein.substack.com/p/finals-tomorrow-trade-talk-today" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> earlier this month that all of the following teams have inquired about Simmons&rsquo; availability: Indiana, Cleveland, Minnesota, Sacramento, and Toronto.
</div>
<div>
Out of those five teams mentioned, who makes the most sense to pay the hefty price needed for Simmons? Sacramento strikes me as the one who&rsquo;s desperate enough to pay whatever it takes (outside of their young backcourt of De&rsquo;Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton).
</div>
<div>
A package revolving around Buddy Hield, Harrison Barnes, and three first-round picks (including the No. 9 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft) could make Sixers GM Daryl Morey seriously consider pulling the trigger.
</div>
<div>
For Sacramento, a young big three consisting of Simmons, Fox, and Haliburton is their last-ditch effort to try to escape the proverbial abyss. Missing the playoffs for 15-straight seasons, a massive move needs to occur in order to keep Fox happy long-term, while also trying to jump another tier in the loaded Western Conference.
</div>
<div>
In return for sending Simmons to the Kings, Philadelphia adds a ton of shooting in the short-term, while holding golden tickets in draft capital long-term. If the Sixers are serious about making a Finals push while adding security past that window, this deal makes so much sense.
</div>
<div>
Sacramento receives: Ben Simmons, George Hill 
</div>
<div>
Philadelphia receives: Buddy Hield, Harrison Barnes, No. 9 pick, 2023 1st, 2025 1st
</div>
<div>
Stay tuned to <a href="http://basketballnews.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BasketballNews.com</a> for all the latest news and rumors. Check out <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our latest 2021 mock draft here</a>.
</div>

From Buddy Hield to Collin Sexton and Ben Simmons to Myles Turner, we may see a blockbuster deal on draft night. Here are some ideas.

6 players who could be traded during the 2021 NBA Draft

Aaron Nesmith&rsquo;s rookie season didn&rsquo;t end the way he wanted.&nbsp;
Downed at the hands of the star-studded Brooklyn Nets in five games, the Boston Celtics were a first-round exit, leading to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-boston-celtics-unprecedented-front-office-overhaul-gives-brad-stevens-the-keys" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a number of organizational changes</a> this offseason. But nine days after the team was eliminated from contention, the 21-year-old made sure that his summer got off to an uplifting start &ndash; buying a new car for his mother, Erine.&nbsp;
He got the idea during the Celtics' game against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center on Jan. 25, while taking a quick walk on the sidelines.
&ldquo;It was when we had no fans, and there was a Kia on the floor,&rdquo; Nesmith told BasketballNews.com in a phone interview. &ldquo;I remember I checked out of the game, and I was walking to the designated area they had for us where we could take our masks off. And they had the white version of the Kia Sorrento there. I think that is a really nice car. It was the model that my mom likes.&rdquo;
Nesmith&rsquo;s mother had been driving the same vehicle for the past 15 years, so Aaron decided to buy her that same Kia Sorrento he laid eyes on, but in Crystal Beige. Setting up the surprise wasn&rsquo;t too difficult, especially since he was able to get his father, Bernie, in on the fun.
By the time Kia brought the car to the family&rsquo;s hometown of Charleston, SC, Aaron had it all planned out. After grabbing a bite to eat, he dropped her off at home, while he and his dad secretly went to the dealership to get a decorative bow. Bernie returned to the house early and told Erine that Aaron was going to meet them to go to dinner, and when Aaron pulled up, she went outside and saw that there was a brand new car in the driveway.
&ldquo;It was a dream come true,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;Growing up and wanting to play basketball, every kid also wants to do something special for their parents. Everything that my mom's done for me, she doesn't really get any gifts... It's really awesome. To see her smile puts a smile on my face.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
This is awesome. Celtics rookie Aaron Nesmith surprised his mom with a new car 🙏 <a href="https://twitter.com/aaronnesmith24?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@aaronnesmith24</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCSCeltics?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBCSCeltics</a><a href="https://t.co/5ZM7giLRyC">pic.twitter.com/5ZM7giLRyC</a>
&mdash; Dime (@DimeUPROXX) <a href="https://twitter.com/DimeUPROXX/status/1403423583636910083?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2021</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

Nesmith felt indebted to her. An early-riser, Aaron woke up at 6 a.m. to work out when he was in high school, and this continued when he was going through the pre-draft process less than a year ago. Erine would always roll out of bed 45 minutes earlier, just so that he could eat a homemade breakfast instead of a bowl of cereal.
&ldquo;She's always on me about taking my vitamins and making sure I eat healthy,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;She's always on me to try to help me be the best person that I can be, and same goes for my brother (Eddie) with academics and what he wants to achieve, so I just wanted to be able to give back to the effort that she puts in for her boys.&rdquo;
The Nesmiths are a family that values higher education. Eddie just finished studying Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University, while Aaron majored in Human and Organizational Development at Vanderbilt, a program focusing on business and marketing. Growing up, however, Aaron had a passion for math.
&ldquo;It was always a direct answer &ndash; you either get it right or you get it wrong &ndash; so I always kinda liked math for that,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;There was no room for interpretation (laughs).&rdquo;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
The 2020-21 NBA season, on the other hand, was very open to interpretation &ndash; especially for a rookie class that was thrown into the fire instead of going through the usual months of preparation with a summer league and proper preseason. Nesmith joined a Celtics team that would go on to battle setback after setback.
&ldquo;When the season started, Coach Brad Stevens told us to be ready to hit curveballs. Because the way the season was set up, anything could happen,&rdquo; Nesmith said. "For my rookie class, we had to hit a couple curveballs before even making it to the NBA. The draft got pushed back twice, two separate days, we didn't have a normal pre-draft process... From the get-go with this NBA journey, it was pretty much hitting curveballs.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I was pretty much ready for anything that could be thrown at me. My team individually, we got hit pretty hard by COVID and had a almost a week stretch where we had only seven players available. So really, just waking up and expecting anything, [it was about] being ready for that... Whenever I work out early in the morning, it's so that when my name is called, I'm ready and I'm not caught off guard. [I was] just pretty much waiting for my name to be called.&rdquo;
Going into Year 2, Nesmith has had more curveballs hurled at him &ndash; initially in the form of former Celtics president Danny Ainge&rsquo;s dismissal and the subsequent promotion of his first-year head coach, Stevens, assuming Ainge&rsquo;s position.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I mean, I definitely didn't see it coming,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;But I think it was great for Brad Stevens and his journey going forward. He's a great basketball mind. I think the Boston Celtics are in great hands with him moving up into the position that he took.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I owe [Danny] a lot. He believed in me, and he picked me in last year's draft, so I'll be forever grateful for that. Even after the last game, he came to me and congratulated me on the season and the turnaround that I had from the beginning to the end. So I thank him for believing in me, even in the beginning where I had a rough start and he continued to believe in me, continued to give me advice even 'til when it started to turn around for me.&rdquo;
Stevens&rsquo; promotion meant a vacancy at head coach, and in turn led to the hiring of Brooklyn Nets associate head coach and longtime assistant Ime Udoka. Though the conversations have been brief, Nesmith has gotten to know him, and learned that Udoka lived in Charleston at one point of his life.
&ldquo;[He&rsquo;s a] players coach. He seems like he's a big development guy, really cares for his guys,&rdquo; Nesmith said of Udoka. &ldquo;He wants to win. He's out there coaching with Team USA because he loves developing guys and he loves being around high-level basketball players. So, I'm excited to get to work with him just 'cause you can see how much he loves the game.&rdquo;
In addition, since Kemba Walker was dealt to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Nesmith will have some new teammates in Boston. Budding big man Moses Brown is coming to town along with veteran forward Al Horford, a Celtics fan favorite who will be back for his second stint with the franchise.
&ldquo;(Laughs) Mhm, that's what I've heard,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;I'm excited to meet him... I watched him growing up some, but the thing that I think will help me the most is just being able to watch how he conducts himself and the way that he approaches the game mentally more than anything. He's been in the NBA for so long. He seems like he's a really good leader, so I'm really excited to be able to work with him.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
This was another good game from Aaron Nesmith. He's figuring things out. He hit three triples, but this was my favorite play. Nesmith misses from deep in the corner. Then watch him bust back to make sure Zach LaVine doesn't get an easy layup. This is part of how he'll earn time. <a href="https://t.co/d7WSc3L7hH">pic.twitter.com/d7WSc3L7hH</a>
&mdash; Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/KeithSmithNBA/status/1354084314963714050?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 26, 2021</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

Making up for lost time, Nesmith is excited to be playing for the Celtics in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas in a few weeks. He sees it as an opportunity to keep his individual momentum from last year going, and a chance to expand on some of the work he&rsquo;s put in over this current offseason.
&ldquo;To be able to play five-on-five again, in a game setting, bringing out the competitive juices &ndash; I just love playing and winning,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;Even though it's not a ring ring, we still get a tournament and we still have to declare the winner at the end, so now that's the current objective: to win that.&rdquo;
When asked to evaluate his rookie year, Nesmith considered himself &ldquo;definitely happy.&rdquo; He is grateful that he had the opportunity to compete against Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and the high-level players the Celtics had, and credits all the veterans who were on the team for their advice and passing knowledge onto him.
&ldquo;I'm ready to do it again,&rdquo; an eager Nesmith said of his upcoming second season. &ldquo;The thing that sticks with me the most [from my rookie year] is just how much you have to give 110% every day, mentally and physically &ndash; 'cause everybody's really good at this game. Everybody works to perfect their craft, so how hard can you outwork the person next to you or in the room that you can't see?&nbsp;
&ldquo;So every day, you've got to go in and give it your all. Even on an off-night &ndash; we play so many games &ndash; you still have to get up just like everybody else does, tie your shoes just like everybody else does and go out there and play as hard as you can. Or else, you're not gonna win.&rdquo;
Nesmith quickly learned to expect the unexpected at the pro level, with &ldquo;the roller coaster of playing and not playing&rdquo; acting as his most difficult adjustment. On the court, his role with the Celtics was much different than it was with the Commodores, too.
A standout at Vanderbilt, Nesmith led the team in scoring (23.0 points per game) his sophomore year prior to a season-ending foot injury. He touched the ball a ton, and put it in the bucket with ease, notably with his scorching 52.2% clip from deep on over eight attempts per game. The &lsquo;Dores depended on him to be their primary team leader in many different facets.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
When he got to the pros, that was no longer the case. Coming off the bench in a much-reduced role than what he was used to in Nashville, Nesmith had to find other ways to make an impact for his new squad &ndash; going hard on the defensive end, diving for loose balls, making hustle plays &ndash; when the starters needed an extra push. &nbsp;And in those times where he was on the floor with Tatum and Brown, he picked up on their tendencies.
&ldquo;It definitely helps that they're on my side. I would rather be playing with them than against them,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;They were our best scorers last year, and you&rsquo;ve got to be able to play off of them and off the ball [and] learn where their spots are. If Jayson and Jaylen shoot a pretty good percentage in *this* area, if they have the ball, you probably don't want to shoot it [there]. For me, that's how I was able to get a lot of my offensive rebounds, based on where they were on the floor and if they had the ball, and whatever dribble combinations they were putting together.
&ldquo;Just doing whatever the team needs to win. Basketball's a team sport, so you have to put the team first. Playing in the NBA and playing with such a talented team, everything that I did at Vandy is not what I need to do here on the Boston Celtics. I have to be able to adapt and change my game in order to help my team win games.&rdquo;
Luckily for him and the Celtics, Nesmith has the instincts and a natural motor to help him do those things. At an early age, his father instilled an outwork-everybody attitude that Aaron still carries with him on the floor and in life.&nbsp;
Nesmith put those qualities to use in arguably his signature performance as a rook. In the midst of a four-loss-in-six-game stretch, Boston came out flat in front of its home fans on April 30 against the San Antonio Spurs. The C&rsquo;s trailed 77-48 at halftime, and even plummeted into a 32-point hole... but the guys in green did not fold. In fact, Nesmith was a catalyst to one of the most unlikely comebacks of the year (and the third-largest in league history).
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4vcUqUGnMtU" width="100%" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
He scored all 16 of his points in the second half and overtime, knocking down clutch threes, ball-hawking for easy opportunities inside and helping Tatum&rsquo;s 60-point night come in a victory. Nesmith admits that the moment was a proud one for him. He legitimately affected the outcome of the game and played 30 minutes that night.
And the day before, in a win at Charlotte, Nesmith became the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-news-aaron-nesmith-is-first-boston-celtics-rookie-with-15-points-3-steals-and-blocks-since-paul-pierce" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first Celtics rookie since Paul Pierce</a> to record 15 points, 3 steals and 3 blocks in a single game.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It was just part of the journey. That's not the last thing I want my name next to, either,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;So I'll chalk that up, put that up next to some of my other awards I've gotten and just keep moving forward, and try to get some more... an NBA championship, first and foremost. And then hopefully a couple years down the line also be able to make the All-Star game, and everything that comes with that as well.&rdquo;
Reflecting on his own pre-draft process happening so recently, Nesmith said it&rsquo;s crazy to think about the next class entering the league in just six days.
&ldquo;It really did fly by; I think about it all the time,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;I got to Boston on November 19, I left in early June after we lost to the Nets, and that's at least seven months. Those seven months flew by like they were two.&rdquo;
Falling to the Nets in the opening round of the postseason left a bad taste in Boston&rsquo;s mouth, but Nesmith believes that experience will prove to be a positive one heading into the 2021-22 campaign.
&ldquo;We learned a little bit more about resilience and having to really fight and win it on the defensive end, especially against a team like the Brooklyn Nets, who have so much offensive firepower,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;It's pretty tough to keep up with a team on that offensive level. But if we can buckle down on the defensive side and we can limit those options &ndash; we're also a very potent offensive team &ndash; that'll take care of itself. I think we learned that our identity going forward needs to be a defensive-minded team. Because even in years past, if you look at the Boston Celtics before I joined the team, they were pretty much a top-five, top-seven defense in the NBA, and it served them well in the postseason. So I think we got away from that a little bit last year, and going back to that next year will serve us greatly.&rdquo;
For Nesmith and the Celtics, the slate is now clean.
&ldquo;We got a new coach, new systems to learn, new guys to play with. And with the old guys, it's just fun being around them, fun competing with them every day,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;I'm excited to take what we learned from last year playing in the first round of the playoffs, taking that into next season and putting it to use throughout the regular season, and then making a deep postseason run as far as we can. For me, I'm excited to expand my role, get a more consistent role with my team,and be able to help my team win games any way I can.&rdquo;

Celtics wing Aaron Nesmith spoke to Spencer Davies about his rookie season, Boston's changes, gifting his mother a car and more.

Aaron Nesmith is ready for whatever else the Celtics throw at him

What do you do with Kristaps Porzingis?
It's a simple, if not reoccuring question that was asked as the Dallas Mavericks controlled, then faltered, then ultimately lost their seven-game first-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Porzingis was a mixed bag at best, a massive disappointment at worst during the battle. His per-game averages -- 13.1 points (57.8% from two, 29.6% from three, 84.2% from the line), 5.4 rebounds -- were well below what the Mavericks needed from him. In a broader sense, they were well below what you'd expect from someone in his tax bracket.
ESPN's Tim MacMahon reported that Porzingis <a href="https://zoom.us/j/96393273001?pwd=a2FhZDJCaWFxNEtkcVlRQkFZRms3QT09" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was frustrated</a> with his role. And as MacMahon noted in his piece, this isn't the first time that there have been rumblings about Porzingis' usage, or his <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/luka-doncic-and-kristaps-porzingis-dont-need-to-be-friends" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on-court relationship</a> with superstar Luka Doncic.
There seems to be a chasm in regards to the way Porzingis performed this postsesaon. He did not produce at a high level. He also was not very involved in the offense; as noted by many, especially my podcast co-host <a href="https://twitter.com/stevejones20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Steve Jones Jr</a>., Porzingis spent quite a bit of his time <a href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA/status/1401944044658466817?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">chilling in the corner</a> while the action flowed elsewhere.
The immediate counter to that, though, is that Porzingis' skill set -- and the things the Clippers did defensively -- only left so much on the table. The counter to&nbsp;that&nbsp;counter is that there didn't seem to be much effort put forth into figuring out alternatives.
I'm already exhausted.
The Mavericks are now entering a pivotal offseason. They'll have well north of $30 million to play with in free agency, though that comes with caveats. Tim Hardaway Jr. is up for a new deal, and his play from this season warrants a bump in pay. Between Hardaway's impending raise and Doncic being extension-eligible, this <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/for-dallas-building-around-luka-doncic-is-only-going-to-get-harder" target="_blank" rel="noopener">may be the last offseason</a> in the foreseeable future that the Mavericks can make major splash in this way.
That, of course, begs the question again: what do you do with Kristaps Porzingis?
To understand where the Mavericks could go from here, we must first examine the context of Porzingis -- what he is, what he isn't, and how that shapes his usage.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
WHAT HE IS
At his core, Porzingis is the largest stretch-5 the NBA has ever seen.&nbsp;
It's one thing to be able to shoot at that size. It's predictably difficult to bother Porzingis' release. Not only is the launching point absurdly high, his trigger is a quick one. Asking a defender to stunt off of Porzingis to muck up a drive, then recover back to contest is a tall task.
Yes, the pun was intended. No, I'm not sorry.&nbsp;
But seriously, what the heck are you supposed to do with this?
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/pntdwx" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Helping off the strong-side corner is typically #not #a #good #idea. Even with that caveat, this is a pretty clear example of the issue of helping off Porzingis. Nicolas Batum did a solid job of recovering, and did virtually nothing to affect the shot. Too high, too quick.&nbsp;
Porzingis doesn't just spot up. What makes him unique is his ability to fire shots off movement. He's able to pick-and-pop, pick-and-slip, operate as a ghost-screener, or fly off screens himself. If you lose touch of him, he'll fling before you can blink.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/3j5azu" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
All Porzingis needs is a pocket of space. He'll find it. He'll flow into it. Those pockets of space come naturally in drop coverage, which is why most of his best work this season -- and in this series -- came with him at the 5. Not many teams want to switch their bigs onto ball handlers; they surely don't want to do that against Doncic.
WHAT HE ISN'T
Where things get murky for Porzingis is when there aren't large pockets of space to flow into. They're apparent in drop or ICE coverage. It's easy to slip into space against aggressive hedges or all-out traps. Switching doesn't present the same opportunities.
The Clippers were intentional about limiting the amount of possessions that Porzingis could get the Ivica Zubac matchup, which meant no drop coverage looks. It mirrored the regular-season series in which one of the forwards -- mostly Kawhi Leonard, but Paul George, Marcus Morris, and Batum also got reps -- would get the Porzingis assignment so that they could switch any Doncic-Porzingis actions.
Not only did the Clippers switch, they were physical with their switches. They made the tight windows even tighter by bodying Porzingis as he tried to slip.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/2jy3lw" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
The last clip in that compilation is key. There's obviously no shame in not being able to beat Kawhi off the bounce, but there are inherent issues with Porzingis as a self-creator.
He doesn't have much wiggle, a reasonable limitation for a 7-foot-3 man. On the season, Porzingis shot 35.7% from the field when taking <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/player/204001/shots-dash/?Season=2020-21&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;PerMode=Totals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">three-or-more dribbles</a>. Attacking a hard close-out with a one- or two-dribble pull-up was well within the Porzingis wheelhouse. Clearing a side for him and letting him get his And-1 on... not so much.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screen-shot-2021-06-08-at-10-44-04-am.png" alt="courtesy of NBA.com" width="1294" height="257" />
Porinzigis&nbsp;also doesn't have much core strength, a massive issue that permeates the rest of his game. We'll stick to offense, though.
Porzingis struggles to knock players off-balance. It's why, despite his size, he's been an underwhelming post player for the majority of his career. Porzingis also knows he isn't that strong, which shapes his shot selection.
Here's a fun stat for you, courtesy of Second Spectrum tracking data: The average start distance of a Porzingis post-up this season was 12.5 feet. The average ending distance was... 10.8 feet. Less than two feet of difference.
Among 78 players to log at least 50 post possessions this season, only five players had a lower differential than Porzingis (+1.7): Kevin Durant (+1.5), Draymond Green (+0.8), James Wiseman (+1.4), Deandre Ayton (0, which is hilarious), and Isaiah Stewart (0).
Think about that group of players. Green is primarily used as passing hub on the block. Stewart roams around the basket area as is, and doesn't get things ran for him (35 post-up shot attempts, per Synergy). Wiseman, Ayton, and Durant are the closest stylistic analogs, but, like, one is Kevin freakin' Durant. Ayton and Wiseman are both face-up heavy, though Ayton can&nbsp;move dudes when he wants to. The jury is out on Wiseman, who, to this point, has played about two weeks worth of basketball in the past two years.
(Also, if we're comparing rookie-year, wet-behind-the-ears, growing-into-his-body Wiseman to an on-his-second-contract version of Porzingis...)
The post-up film on Porzingis is littered with turnarounds. They make sense within the context of his strength limitations and his frame -- hello, high-release point! -- but those aren't the kind of shots that force defenses to rotate.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/92q5ik" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
There are makes and misses in the video above. What should stand out, however, is the lack of help given on thost post-ups. 6-foot-7 Kawhi, 6-foot-8 George, 6-foot-8 Morris, and 6-foot-5 Terance Mann are the defenders in those clips. And the Clippers were more than okay living with single coverage.
This is why Rick Carlisle was ultimately okay with stashing Porzingis in the corner. The Clippers were not going to drop coverage, nor were they going to send two to the ball with Porzingis in action.&nbsp;
That, uh, was not the case with Boban Marjanovic as the screener. His vertical presence and, most importantly, his scoring gravity on the block forced the Clippers to scramble a bit. That led to things like this.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/4po1bx" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
There are multiple things working here.
1) Porzingis is at his best against a particular scheme (drop, ICE).
2) Because of his physical and some skill limitations, he can be schemed out a bit with switches.&nbsp;
3) There are still exploits within switching, particularly with ghost/brush screens or slips.
4) From a personnel standpoint, the Clippers are uniquely equipped to&nbsp;switch effectively&nbsp;against Porzingis and take away those opportunities.
Squint hard enough, and there's an "82-game player vs. 16-game player" discussion to be had. It's fair to argue that Porzingis is more of the former than the latter. The question then becomes: how large is the gap between the two, and how much faith do you have in it closing?
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
WHERE TO GO FROM HERE
What's clear, taking a 10,000-foot view of this thing, is that the Mavericks need a third guy. That third doesn't necessarily have to be better&nbsp;than Porzingis overall (though that'd be great for obvious reasons), but there is a pressure-the-rim, make-the-defense-bend gap that needs to be bridged.&nbsp;
It can't all be on Doncic to do the defense-bending. The Mavericks may not also face a Clippers-level of switchable defenders to neutralize Porzingis the way that he was in this series, but the blueprint is out there. And if the Mavericks plan to get into -- and ultimately beat -- the upper echelon in the West, they'll need to solve that issue.
That help could come this summer. For as much smoke as there was about Kyle Lowry being moved to Miami or Philadelphia (or I guess Los Angeles), Dallas would be a tremendous fit for him if he wanted to go that route. That level of pull-up shooting, driving equity, playmaking, and off-ball randomness could be enough to bring out the best in Doncic and&nbsp;Porzingis.&nbsp;
It could just be internal improvement. Jalen Brunson was a borderline Sixth Man of the Year candidate for a reason. He's pretty freaking good, in my opinion. For what it's worth, the Mavericks had a 118.2 offensive rating with the Brunson-Doncic-Porzingis trio on the floor this season, per PBP Stats.
If you're of the mindset that Porzingis in Dallas just can't work, it's worth exploring some landing spots for him.&nbsp;
Miami is intriguing. The spacing that Porzingis provides would be a natural complement to Bam Adebayo in the frontcourt. Having Adebayo's versatility and Jimmy Butler's off-ball prowess could help shield some of Porzingis' defensive shortcomings in a way that isn't possible with the Mavericks' personnel.&nbsp;
The Heat can get there pretty easily from a financial standpoint by exercising the team options on Goran Dragic and Andre Iguodala. The question becomes what assets are they willing to give up on top of that.
They're pretty short on pick capital, and could be outbid by others if a market develops. I find it hard to believe that Precious Achiuwa would intrigue the Mavericks enough, and Tyler Herro seems to be in "move-him-for-a-(super)star-only" territory.
(Debate amongst yourselves if that status is warranted, but that seems to be the status at least.)
My guy <a href="https://twitter.com/KeithSmithNBA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Keith Smith</a> (jokingly?) floated out a Porzingis-for-Kemba Walker swap. It's one that would probably take a little more from... somebody's side, probably Boston's considering the age gap and "small-guard-with-a-knee-history" concern that comes with Walker. But as Keith noted, this is a deal both fanbases <a href="https://twitter.com/KeithSmithNBA/status/1401663952967319555?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">would probably hate</a>. I'm contractually obligated to root for it just for the laughs.
Some other fits that could intrigue: the Warriors (the money is tough, though), the Pelicans (please give Zion Williamson some space to work with), and maybe the Thunder as a wildcard.
From my view, it'll be easier to add a piece to complement Porzingis than it would be to trade him for the type of talent you need. That's probably okay. Even with the flaws, Porzingis is coming off a season in which he averaged north of 20 points with a True Shooting percentage eclipsing 58.
And even that came following an offseason of injury recovery from the bubble. A full offseason could do wonders for the 25-year-old. There's something to work with here. Adding a piece or two in free agency could alleviate a good deal of his shortcomings.&nbsp;
Let's revisit this in a year.

Nekias Duncan examines the strengths and weaknesses of Kristaps Porzingis, and how the Mavericks should proceed with him moving forward.

The balancing act of Kristaps Porzingis

Nekias Duncan breaks down the battles that could swing each first-round series of the NBA Playoffs.

Pressure points: Battles that will decide the first round of the NBA Playoffs

With the season set to start in less than a month, the NBA fan community was treated to an accelerated offseason. The NBA Draft was on Wednesday, and free agency kicked off two days later. We got a whirlwind of signings and trades -- boy, were there trades -- on the opening night, and that activity extended throughout the weekend.&nbsp;
Rosters are still being filled, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean we can&rsquo;t evaluate early winners and losers. If we can do it <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-draft-2020-winners-losers-philadelphia-76ers-new-york-knicks-pelicans-new-orleans-lonzo-ball-obi-toppin-patrick-williams-chicago-bulls-tyrese-haliburton-sacramento-kings" target="_blank" rel="noopener">for the draft</a> and none of those guys have played yet, surely we can do so for more proven commodities.&nbsp;
Let&rsquo;s hand out some awards and slander, shall we?
Winner: Centers
If we learned anything from the bubble, particularly from the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets, it&rsquo;s that size still matters in this league. The Lakers bludgeoned teams with their size all season long, led by the ultimate unicorn in Anthony Davis. With the NBA being a copycat league, there seemed to be a real emphasis on teams adding big men early on in the free agency process.
I mean sure, the Pistons tried to sign literally all of them -- I&rsquo;m still shaking my head at the Mason Plumlee 3-year, $25 million deal -- but other bigs saw a heightened market. Derrick Favors (3/$30M) went back to his stomping grounds in Utah after looking half-dead athletically in the bubble. Meyers Leonard saw a massive drop in playing time in the bubble and playoffs, and he still was able to return to Miami for nearly $10 million. Robin Lopez shockingly opted out of a $5 million player option with the Bucks, and even more shockingly got a raise from the Washington Wizards.&nbsp;
You can&rsquo;t build the boat out of centers like you could in yesteryear, but it appears that teams have swung back the other way on their utility in general. Skilled size is king, but size in general still matters quite a bit.
Winner: Los Angeles Lakers
Whew, buddy, have the rich gotten richer.
After trading Danny Green to the Oklahoma City Thunder as part of a package for Dennis Schroder, the Lakers were able to find his replacement by adding Wes Matthews with their bi-annual exception. They then were able to add last year&rsquo;s Sixth Man of the Year, Montrezl Harrell, for the non-taxpayer mid-level exception. Harrell has his flaws defensively, but there may not be a better big in the league than Davis to cover for those warts.
Speaking of bigs, the Lakers were also able to pry Marc Gasol away from the Toronto Raptors. Gasol has slipped quite a bit in terms of mobility, but still possesses the shooting, passing and defensive aptitude to juice the Lakers&rsquo; frontcourt. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope also returns on a reasonable deal (3/$40M) after the cap space market mostly dried up on him.
The Lakers&rsquo; potential playoff rotation now consists of LeBron James, Caldwell-Pope, Matthews, Davis, Gasol, Schroder, Harrell and Alex Caruso. I think it&rsquo;s safe to say, barring injury, that they are the clear favorites to win the title this year.&nbsp;
Winner: Trae Young
Have you ever played NBA 2K&rsquo;s MyCareer mode on Hall-of-Fame difficulty? It can be a frustrating experience. It&rsquo;s less about your individual skill level. if you&rsquo;re good, you should still be able to bake CPUs; if you&rsquo;re not that good, but you&rsquo;re smart, there are some pretty simple exploits (slip those PnRs!) that can get you easy buckets. It&rsquo;s more about what the talent around you does. They just perform in a way that makes you shake your head. At a certain point, you have to assume virtually all creation responsibility if you want to score enough against the CPU to win games, assuming you don&rsquo;t stash your player on the Lakers or something. The stats you put up and the skill/badge points you earn alleviate some of the frustration, but it&rsquo;s still a pain to deal with.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/usatsi_14021300-1_lg.jpg" alt="" width="860" height="AUTO" />
This is what I imagine Trae Young felt like last year.
His skill level is obviously high; he&rsquo;s one of the NBA&rsquo;s best passers and is a pull-up threat the second he crosses half-court. But between not having an NBA-caliber backup point guard until the Jeff Teague addition, injury woes from second-in-command Kevin Huerter and John Collins (more on him later) getting himself suspended for 25 games, it felt like Young was the only player on the Hawks that could generate offense for himself or others.
Within that lens, this offseason has been huge for him. Signing Danilo Gallinari gives the Hawks (and Young) a bonafide three-level scorer that can hold his own weight. The merits of Rajon Rondo&rsquo;s (regular season) value can be debated, but he is a high IQ guy and a tremendous passer that can create for others in the half-court. There may be more reinforcements on the way, with Kings restricted free agent and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-trade-grade-milwaukee-bucks-jrue-holiday-bogdan-bogdanovic-giannis-antetokounmpo-nekias-deal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">honorary Bucks legend</a> Bogdan Bogdanovic signing a hefty offer sheet (4/$72M) over the weekend. If the Kings don&rsquo;t match, Bogdanovic will give the Hawks another shot creator that also offers some passing chops in pick-and-roll.
The Hawks still have some, uh, roster balancing to do, but they&rsquo;ve undoubtedly taken some of the burden off of Young&rsquo;s plate. That feels like a win for the young lad.&nbsp;
Winner: Portland Trail Blazers
I&rsquo;m not sure if &ldquo;quietly&rdquo; is the right way to describe it, but the Blazers have had themselves one heck of an offseason. It started with their pre-draft trade for Robert Covington, a ridiculous help defender that should allow the Blazers to ramp up their defensive aggression if they so choose. Of course, that doesn&rsquo;t count as a free-agency move, but the Blazers have plenty of ammo in that department as well.
Bringing back Rodney Hood was a smart move. Hood was in the midst of his most efficient season by far (with a career-high 62.5% True Shooting percentage) before injuries derailed his campaign. His off-the-bounce shooting is a wonderful counterpunch to teams that overreact to the Damian Lillard/CJ McCollum backcourt and scramble after getting the ball out of their hands.&nbsp;
The Blazers also added Derrick Jones Jr. on a sorta-rich-but-mostly-fine 1+1 deal at the mid-level. He gives Portland a level of athleticism that they haven&rsquo;t had since, well... when have they had a guy who can jump like he can? Jones is a versatile defender in terms of his individual skill set, but also brings with him a diversity of scheme deployment after playing just about any defense you can think of under Erik Spoelstra in Miami last year.
Circling back to the &ldquo;Centers Matter!&rdquo; point, the Blazers also made sure to bolster their frontcourt. Enes Kanter is back to provide interior scoring and rebounding against specific matchups. Harry Giles is a mystery box; a tremendous passer with plus-athleticism that also has no idea what he&rsquo;s doing on defense. Carmelo Anthony isn&rsquo;t a center, but does provide some semblance of frontcourt depth as a spacer and occasional end-of-shot-clock option.
Health is the big caveat for the Blazers (when hasn&rsquo;t it been?), but they&rsquo;re set up to push for a top-four seed this season.
Loser: Denver Nuggets
I have two issues with the Nuggets&rsquo; opening weekend -- enough that I&rsquo;d consider them a loser versus a team I&rsquo;m just concerned with.
First, losing Jerami Grant hurts, even if that was mostly out of their control. Grant reportedly chose a larger role in Detroit over sticking with the Nuggets, despite a willingness from Denver&rsquo;s side to offer a similar deal. It&rsquo;s hard to blame a young dude for wanting to expand his game. And as we know in today&rsquo;s NBA, good, young-ish players on bad NBA teams can always be flipped to good teams for draft compensation. I&rsquo;d be surprised if Grant finishes his deal as a member of the Pistons.
Regardless, the athleticism, shooting, cutting and defensive versatility that Grant brings will be missed in Denver. Bringing back Paul Millsap and signing JaMychal Green are solid counters, but they didn't replace Grant&rsquo;s skillset (or youth).&nbsp;
Second, even if they were able to retain Grant, the Nuggets would still be in need of an actual-factual wing defender. They&rsquo;ve done absolutely nothing to fill that void. The closest version of that player on the roster was Torrey Craig and they pulled his qualifying offer, leading to Craig signing with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Craig is a flawed player, particularly offensively. This isn&rsquo;t a &ldquo;wow, the Nuggets really dropped the ball&rdquo; type of complaint, but he was at least a facsimile of what they needed. Who is the guy on the roster that can match up -- forget defend, just match up -- with the LeBrons, Kawhis and Paul Georges of the conference? That is a lot of pressure on Will Barton or Gary Harris or PJ Dozier -- and all of those guys are undersized against 3s or 3/4 hybrids.
Loser: Charlotte Hornets
Four years, $120 million for Gordon Hayward. Even with the theoretical small-market/bad-team tax that has to be paid to land second-tier free agents, that is a steep price for a guy who:
1) Hasn&rsquo;t made an All-Star team in three seasons.
2) Has played in 125 games over the past three seasons due to lower-body injuries.
3) May still be dealing with a <a href="https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2020/07/gordon-hayards-takeover-ability-foot-pain-and-absence-3-big-questions-as-the-boston-celtics-restart-their-season.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nerve issue in his foot</a> from his catastrophic injury in 2017.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/usatsi_9765789-1_lg.jpg" alt="" width="860" height="AUTO" />
On top of that, the Hornets elected to waive-and-stretch Nicolas Batum -- their last big-money-gone-bad-due-to-injury wing signing -- to free up the money to bring in Hayward. Let&rsquo;s say Hayward is reasonably healthy (60 of 72 games?) and slaps up, like, 19-5-5 on solid efficiency. Is that enough to get these Hornets into the play-in tournament? Maybe?&nbsp;
I don&rsquo;t love it. I can also quibble about the Bismack Biyombo signing because there were (and are) better center options on the market, but there is familiarity there and he&rsquo;s a genuine locker-room presence.&nbsp;
Loser: John Collins
As mentioned earlier, the signing of Gallinari takes quite a bit of pressure off of Young in terms of shot creation. Gallinari is also pretty firmly a 4, which happens to be the same position that Collins plays.&nbsp;
You may say, &ldquo;Just slide Collins over to the 5!&rdquo; and sure. But the Hawks traded for Clint Capela to operate as a rim runner and rim protector. They also just drafted Onyeka Okongwu at No. 6 overall. He may be mobile enough to survive at the 4, but he does not have the shooting or ball skills (yet) to play it offensively. He should also get burn at the 5.&nbsp;
If the Hawks are serious about making the playoffs (which they seem to be based on the money they&rsquo;ve shelled out so far), then improving the defense should be priority number one. Capela, Okongwu and the recently-signed Kris Dunn all fit that billing. Capela and Okongwu are better options at holding down the fort defensively than Collins is.
These moves conveniently come during an offseason in which Collins is extension-eligible and fresh off a season where Collins missed 25 games due to stupi-, er, suspension.
I&rsquo;m not the best at math, but 2 + 2 has always come out to 4 in my experience. It&rsquo;s starting to feel like Collins is going to end up being the odd man out.&nbsp;
Collins is very talented, a legit stretch option at this point while also being a violent rim-runner and offensive rebounder; but the lack of positional versatility due to his &ldquo;meh&rdquo; length and defensive aptitude cap his ceiling in terms of playoff value. And it&rsquo;s hard to argue giving max money to a guy like that, especially when your franchise player is one of the worst defenders in the sport. If building around Young is the priority, you&rsquo;re going to need a team full of wing defenders and interior stoppers. Collins, as good as he is, doesn&rsquo;t qualify as either.
Loser: JaVale McGee
Opting into your contract, only to be shipped to Cleveland to make room for your replacement has to sting. Assuming he stays, he&rsquo;s also not any closer to consistent playing time. And even if he does carve out a 14-16-minute role as the back-up 5, he&rsquo;ll be going from LeBron to&hellip; Collin Sexton and Darius Garland as pick-and-roll passers?&nbsp;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/usatsi_13781902-1_lg.jpg" alt="" width="860" height="AUTO" />
Quite a drop, I&rsquo;d say.
Stray Thoughts
- Maybe not a loser, but the Brooklyn Nets are loser-adjacent right now. Bringing back Joe Harris is smart, even if that price (4/$75M) seems a smidge steep for my liking. But they&rsquo;re still a couple of perimeter defenders short, and they need a 4. Badly. Go flip some stuff for Aaron Gordon, please.
- Very nerdy thing, but I love the DeAndre&rsquo; Bembry signing for Toronto. He can&rsquo;t shoot, which stinks, but he can defend multiple positions, plays at 150 MPH all the time and can make some funky passes from time-to-time. He&rsquo;s going to be fun (and sometimes infuriating) for their bench unit.
- The Bogdanovic flop was funny to watch for non-Bucks fans, but I think the consensus around the Bucks&rsquo; offseason has become overly negative because of it. They still improved their team, highlighted by the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-trade-grade-milwaukee-bucks-jrue-holiday-bogdan-bogdanovic-giannis-antetokounmpo-nekias-deal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jrue Holiday trade</a>. They&rsquo;ve also made some solid bargain signings. Bryn Forbes can shoot, as can D.J. Augustin. Bobby Portis can score, though that&rsquo;s probably all he can do. None of those guys are plus-defenders, but if you&rsquo;re of the belief that they&rsquo;ll be flanked by at least one of Giannis Antetokounmpo or Brook Lopez at all times, you have the interior infrastructure in place to protect them from being abused. Of course, none of this matters if head coach Mike Budenholzer doesn't evolve a bit. Which, well, I guess we&rsquo;ll see.
- Seriously, is there a single Knicks player on the roster that isn&rsquo;t repped by CAA? Somebody has to intervene, right? Right? Bueller?&nbsp;
- Shout-out to the Suns for drafting Jalen Smith at 10, then proceeding to sign or bring back three frontcourt players in less than a week. Bringing him along slowly isn&rsquo;t a bad idea, but it does make the pick look more questionable in the short-term.
- It&rsquo;s at least a little odd we&rsquo;ve heard next to nothing on the extension talks of Giannis Antetokounmpo (and by proxy, Bam Adebayo) or Brandon Ingram. I would expect the Ingram shoe to drop first, but the silence on the other end is... odd, to say the least. Teams like the Heat, Raptors and Mavericks might smell blood in the water.
- Honestly would&rsquo;ve liked to see the Hawks take the $12-or-so-million per year they spent on the Rondo/Dunn combo and use it for a De&rsquo;Anthony Melton offer sheet, but good on the Grizzlies for locking him up for cheap. That deal is going to age well, methinks.

Nekias Duncan breaks down the teams and players that were affected the most after the first three days of NBA free agency.

Early winners and losers of NBA free-agency weekend

The Boston Celtics saw their season end in the Eastern Conference Finals, a step up from their second-round disaster last season. The most important development came in the form of Jayson Tatum&rsquo;s ascension; a strong post-January stretch and even stronger playoff showing put him on the doorstep of superstardom.
The wing tandem of Tatum and Jaylen Brown is set to rule among the East&rsquo;s top tier for a long time (health permitting). Flanked by a pair of former All-Stars (Kemba Walker and Gordon Hayward) and the do-everything-ness of Marcus Smart, it&rsquo;s hard to name teams with better top-fives than Boston.
Now, the fun part begins.
The Celtics have their core in place; this offseason will be about improving around the margins. Their most influential potential free agent, Hayward, has a player option worth over $34 million. It&rsquo;s safe to say he&rsquo;ll be opting in. As such, the Celtics likely won&rsquo;t have the big-boy mid-level exception (projected to be worth north of $9 million) available to them; they&rsquo;ll have the tax-payer&rsquo;s MLE to work with instead ($5.7 million), which may limit their options.
The always-informative Keith Smith has a more thorough breakdown of their cap situation, which you can find <a href="https://www.slamonline.com/nba/boston-celtics-salary-cap-space-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. Let&rsquo;s take a look at some guys they&rsquo;ll look to bring back as well as some targets that could help them come back stronger than ever.
Key In-House Decisions
Enes Kanter*: Bring Him Back
Kanter has a player option worth a little over $5 million. It certainly isn&rsquo;t Hayward money, but I&rsquo;d be surprised if he turned that down unless he&rsquo;s willing to sacrifice some per-year money in exchange for years tacked on.&nbsp;
Regardless, Kanter brings some 82-game value as a rebounder and post scorer against second units. There are very specific playoff matchups he can thrive in; it wasn&rsquo;t a surprise that we mostly saw him in the Eastern Conference Finals when he was able to &ldquo;guard&rdquo; Andre Iguodala on the other end. I think he&rsquo;s a slightly overqualified &ldquo;break-glass-in-case-of-emergency&rdquo; option that Boston should look to bring back if the price is reasonable.&nbsp;
Brad Wanamaker*: Circle Back Later
Wanamaker was mostly fine as a back-up ball-handler last year, averaging 6.9 points while shooting over 36 percent from three. It shouldn&rsquo;t take much to bring him back, though there will be better options available. It makes sense to do some shopping first.
Semi Ojeleye*: Let Him Walk
Aside from being incredibly jacked, what exactly does Ojeleye do? There&rsquo;s some value in his ability to defend power wings, but he provides almost nothing on the offensive end. There are much better options in free agency, and that&rsquo;s if the Celtics don&rsquo;t decide to go wing hunting with one of their 27 first-rounders in this year&rsquo;s draft.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/clarkson2_lg.jpg" alt="" width="794" height="AUTO" />
Free Agent Guards 
Mid-Tier Option: Jordan Clarkson, Jeff Teague
Clarkson is coming off of, by far, the most efficient season of his career. He gave the Jazz a much-needed scoring punch once he arrived, averaging 15.6 points with a 56.9 True Shooting percentage during the regular season. Both of those marks increased (16.7, 57.7) during Utah&rsquo;s first-round showdown with the Denver Nuggets.&nbsp;
Clarkson trading out some of his pull-up long twos for threes went a long way to making him a more efficient option. Bringing Clarkson could be huge for limiting some of Walker&rsquo;s regular season workload. It would also take some of the bench-creation responsibility off of Smart.&nbsp;
Teague has been the quintessential average point guard for quite some time: &ldquo;fine&rdquo; at mostly everything, but doesn&rsquo;t really move the needle. Luckily for Boston, &ldquo;fine&rdquo; is really all they need behind or alongside Walker or Smart. Teague&rsquo;s still able to get to the rim, which could help open closeout attacks for others in the second unit.
Bargains: Tyler Johnson, Isaiah Thomas
Johnson had a pretty quiet regular season campaign, kicking things off in Phoenix before finding his way to the Brooklyn Nets mid-season. Johnson performed well in the postseason, averaging a shade under 14 points while unloading the clip from deep (39.3 percent on 7.0 attempts). He&rsquo;s a fearless driver and underrated rebounder; he isn&rsquo;t afraid of mixing it up with bigger players. He and Smart would form the most annoying backup backcourt to play against in the league.
If Boston&rsquo;s going to be in the market for a back-up point guard, why not go back to Thomas? He&rsquo;s beloved in that market and he has obvious rapport with head coach Brad Stevens. Earlier this year, <a href="https://hoopshype.com/2020/02/20/nba-rumors-isaiah-thomas-free-agency-celtics-wizards-kobe-bryant-interview-waived-chyna-ainge/">our Alex Kennedy asked</a> Thomas if he&rsquo;s open to a reunion with the Celtics.
&ldquo;For sure, if the opportunity presented itself,&rdquo; Thomas said. &ldquo;I hold no grudges, and they know that. I have genuine love for the city of Boston. If that were to happen, I&rsquo;d love to be part of what they have going on. You never know... If that opportunity presents itself, for sure. Time has passed.&rdquo;
He&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-news-playoffs-finals-isaiah-thomas-injury-free-agent">allegedly better than ever</a> after finally having hip surgery, and he&rsquo;s coming off a season in Washington where he proved he can still provide a spark offensively (12.2 points, 41.3 percent from three-point range).
Free Agent Wings 
Mid-Tier Options: Justin Holiday
Holiday is more 3-and-Decent than 3-and-D, but he&rsquo;s coming off of the best shooting season of his career (40.5 percent from three-point range on 4.5 attempts) while being a credible option against 2s and 3s. Boston needs guards more than they need wings, but he&rsquo;s certainly worth the MLE if it comes down to it.
Bargains: Garrett Temple*
Temple would give the Celtics a plus, multi-positional defender with a solid three-point stroke (35.3 percent over the past five seasons). The asterisk is present because the Nets hold a team option, though it&rsquo;d come as no surprise if they let Temple walk to free up tax room to bring back Joe Harris.
Free Agent Forwards
Mid-Tier Options: Paul Millsap&nbsp;
Millsap did look a bit washed at points during the postseason, but he still managed to defend Anthony Davis as well as nearly anyone while filling the gaps offensively. I&rsquo;d argue that Millsap has a bit more in the tank than it would appear; operating as the backline defender in Denver&rsquo;s aggressive pick-and-roll scheme puts a lot of strain on those old bones. Being surrounded by the perimeter defenders Boston has would take some pressure off of him. He could also moonlight as a small-ball 5 in favor of Daniel Theis in closing lineups if the situation calls for it.
Bargains: Mo Harkless, Luc Mbah a Moute
Harkless is a credible defender of 3s and 4s, though his jumper has always been the swing skill of his effectiveness. He&rsquo;s never been a high volume guy and even with that caveat, he has shot over 35 percent from three-point range in just three of his eight seasons. He can provide value as an eighth man during the regular season.
Mbah a Moute has fallen victim to his own body, with injuries derailing his last three seasons. It&rsquo;s probably far-fetched to expect his 2017-18 form, but he could serve as a nice &ldquo;break-glass-in-case-of-emergency&rdquo; defender during the season. Of course, the bar is the floor when you&rsquo;re essentially using this spot to replace Ojeleye.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/dwigh2_lg.jpg" alt="" width="796" height="AUTO" />
Free Agent Bigs 
Mid-Tier Options: Dwight Howard
The Celtics probably don&rsquo;t want to splurge too much on a center, They&rsquo;ve proven over multiple years that they can get value off the scrap heap, with Aron Baynes (probably out of their price range, funny enough) and Daniel Theis serving as recent examples. Theis is legitimately good -- not &ldquo;neutralize Bam Adebayo '' good, but good nonetheless. Robert Williams is in the pipeline as a potential two-way force.
If Boston wants a short-term upgrade as a backup five, giving Howard a call would make sense. He was one of the NBA&rsquo;s most productive bench bigs, averaging 7.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 18.9 minutes per game. Fouls were a problem, but Howard can provide a brand of rebounding, rim finishing and post defense that was missing behind Theis during the postseason.
Bargains: JaVale McGee, Harry Giles
McGee remains one of the NBA&rsquo;s top lob threats, equipped with solid leaping ability and a silly catch radius. He uses those limbs to putback misses and swat shots on the other end. Fouls and an inability to navigate space limit his ceiling, but a stopgap is all that&rsquo;s needed while Williams continues to learn the NBA game.
Giles has a bit of an injury history, dating back to his high-school days. Multiple lower-body injuries have sapped some of his athleticism, and he&rsquo;s still a fluid, jumpy big who can feast in transition. The intrigue lies in his on-ball skill; he&rsquo;s quietly one of the better passing big men in the league already. There&rsquo;s some serious &ldquo;throw-it-to-him-in-the-high-post-and-let-him-do-stuff&rdquo; potential waiting to be untapped. This would be a smart buy-low candidate to look into.

Nekias Duncan breaks down the Celtics' own free-agent decisions and suggests some players that Boston should target at each position.

2020 Free Agency Preview: Boston Celtics

Thanks go out to the Miami Heat for keeping themselves relevant for three games and three quarters. They were clearly the second-best team in the NBA Finals last night in the fourth quarter, and they are all but cooked as we wait two days for the inevitable.
But the bright side in all of this is that we can start turning our attention to the rest of the NBA and what awaits us in the offseason, as everyone else in the league tries to better themselves through free agency, trades and the draft.
There are coaching vacancies in Houston, Los Angeles (Clippers), Indiana, New Orleans and Oklahoma City. There is a strong crop of free agents, but only four teams -- New York, Atlanta, Detroit and New Orleans -- with significant cap room (assuming the cap stays the same) to go after them. There is hope in Brooklyn where the Nets will eventually have Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Caris LaVert playing together, and across the East River at Madison Square Garden with the Knicks, where Tom Thibodeau is the new coach, Leon Rose is the new general manager and Worldwide Wes is the kind of behind-the-scenes operator who can sell skeptical players on the benefits of playing in the city that one day will no longer be a ghost town.
The West is loaded with capable teams who had the misfortune of going up against the Lakers and Nuggets, and a little tinkering here and there is all that the Clippers, Trail Blazers, Mavericks, Jazz and Pelicans need to have a better chance of keeping LeBron James out of his 10th NBA Finals in 11 years.
The biggest question mark in the Eastern Conference is whether Giannis Antetokounmpo will sign his super-max deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, and some clarity on that question may come if Bucks general manager Jon Horst is willing to consider moving Eric Bledsoe and/or Khris Middleton for a player (or players) who will not shrink from the spotlight as we saw earlier in the postseason.
Boston is perplexing, especially Jayson Tatum, but he and the remainder of the Celtics&rsquo; core were not all that far from advancing further than they did, and the Toronto Raptors (if they can keep Fred VanVleet) need to only find a center to replace Marc Gasol to make it back where they were just one season ago.
Of course, the LeBron factor will loom large with every NBA team, because as we saw in Game 4 of the NBA Finals last night, they are about as good of a team as James has ever been a part of. Even with Anthony Davis having another decent-but-not-spectacular offensive evening, the contributions of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Alex Caruso, Danny Green, Markieff Morris and Rajon Rondo added up to more than the Heat could handle, especially with Goran Dragic missing a third-straight game.&nbsp;
&ldquo;This was a throwback game and there were some moments of truth there at the end, and probably the bottom line is they won those moments of truth,&rdquo; Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Also, Davis&rsquo; defense on Jimmy Butler combined with another vintage fourth quarter from LeBron (11 points, five rebounds and two assists) put L.A. one win away from tying the Celtics for the most championships in NBA history.
"I felt like for me, personally, this was one of the biggest games of my career," said the 35-year-old James, the league's career leader in playoff wins. "I just wanted to relay that message to my teammates, the type of zone I was in, the type of moment it was and the kind of team we were playing against...
"They are just a gritty, so damn-well-coached team. I feel like if we're going to be a championship ball club, if we want to really be a championship team, we&rsquo;ve got to have that same grit and that same attitude. It was my mindset. I'm still in it."
We shall see what the Heat have left in the tank on Friday night, and in the meantime we have plenty to keep us interested in the world outside of sports. There is a vice-presidential debate tonight, there is a President with COVID-19, there are baseball playoffs, there is the ever-present specter of Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, we&rsquo;ll eventually have The Masters -- and so on, and so forth.
The NBA pulled this bubble thing off, and priority No. 1 for Commissioner Adam Silver now is trying to find a way to get his fans back inside NBA arenas for the start of next season, whenever that might happen. The pandemic and the presidential elections are two factors that are completely out of the commissioner&rsquo;s control. And he will have to continue to change on the fly as events warrant. The league and the NBPA have to come up with a new set of rules to try to have a workable salary cap number and find ways to generate revenue to fund a league that needs fannies in the seats to be economically viable.
If Americans continue to stay locked up in their homes out of fears, real or imagined, it is going to be a long, long winter in which a night out at an NBA arena is no longer a possible diversion. But if the pandemic subsides and the arenas are opened, next NBA season should be special.
Even some of the outlier teams have hope: Minnesota has the No. 1 pick, Washington will have John Wall and Bradley Beal playing together with a healthy Thomas Bryant; Sacramento has a new front office chief in Monte McNair; Phoenix is coming off an 8-0 bubble performance that made Devin Booker fans out of a whole lot of people; Memphis has Ja Morant, the reigning Rookie of the Year; and let&rsquo;s not forget Golden State, who will have Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson back, playing with Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green and whoever Bob Myers and Steve Kerr decide to take with the No. 2 pick in the draft.
It is a day of mourning in Miami, and day of celebration in Los Angeles, and a day of hope in every other NBA city. We can all see the finish line, and from there we go to the starting line, where hope springs eternal for the 29 NBA teams whose seasons ended in failure. Yup, failure, because anything short of a championship constitutes the opposite of success.
There are 28 teams that have failed, and the Miami Heat are about to join them... unless you believe Spoelstra: &ldquo;You have two competitive groups and you just have to figure out how to make some plays at the end, and that's usually where we figure it out and usually where our group thrives. So I already know the heartbeat of what's going on in our locker room, our guys are just looking forward to Friday.&rdquo;

Chris Sheridan looks ahead to what comes next for the NBA once the Los Angeles Lakers end things with the Miami Heat in the Finals.